Freaky Friday Effect
by hoshiko2kokoro
Summary: Siblings are one of the most fascinating subjects to watch, especially twins. But no pair has the strangest story to tell than that of polar opposite twins Sora and Roxas.  AU
1. Strange Sunday

_hoshiko's note:_ So here it is! I got this wonderful inspiration after I saw the movie _Freaky Friday_, only there's way more of a twist here. It's also full of gayness. Heh.  
This is my first AU, so I hope I did a good job. Review to let me know, okay? Thank you.

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_Strange Sunday_

Siblings are one of the most fascinating subjects to watch. If there was a course on sibling fighting and bonding, a good majority of the population would probably go. More than half of it, however, would put in their own stories during the lecture. There would be a lot of interesting tales to hear, that much is sure. But, probably the oddest account occurred between Sora and Roxas.

They were twins of about the late teenaged years. Both had striking blue eyes and loved outrageous clothing, but that was where any similarities ended. Sora was slightly taller, but most would say it was because of his absurdly spiky, brown hair. Roxas had spiky hair too, but it just wasn't up to par with his brother. He was the blonde of the family. Something about it coming from a grandparent on someone's side of the family. Not important, though.

Sora was a lot more outgoing than Roxas will probably ever be; therefore he ended up in a lot more popular crowds. He was practically dating the cheerleader captain, Kairi, and his best friend, Riku, was on almost every single sports team. Roxas, on the other hand, was given the "bad hand in life" as his brother would so nicely put.

Being a lot more introverted, Roxas tended to read and stay happily inside his own mind. His deep thoughts led him to learn that he was thinking a lot more about boys than he did about girls. Upon this realization, he entered high school wondering if this would really come back to haunt him. Because of this, Roxas tends to keep his guard up, even around his boyfriend.

One for festivity and one for privacy. Needless to say that in this house, sparks always flew between the two.

♥

"I'm going to kill him," Roxas mumbled. He stared into the bottom of his backpack. There was supposed to be change at the bottom for the blonde's lunch, but he knew where the munny have actually wandered off to.

"More death threats to your brother?" a blonde girl asked beside Roxas. The two were sitting on a park bench near an ice cream vendor.

"Yes because he took my munny! I wanted to buy some sea salt ice cream!" Roxas exclaimed. He threw his bag down angrily.

The blonde girl looked down at the bag before she pulled out some spare munny. "Here, take this," she offered.

"Oh, no Namine, I couldn't." Roxas held his hands up. "That's yours."

"And now it's yours." Namine took the boy's hand and promptly put the munny in his hands. "Go on and buy some ice cream. I know how much you love it."

"Thanks. You're the best," Roxas said as he stood up. He smiled and made his way to the vendor. The blonde stopped quickly. "Axel?"

A taller and much older boy stood in line for the ice cream. It was easy to spot him as he hosted bright, fire hydrant red spiky hair and tended to wear dark clothes. Turning around, he showed off his brilliant green colored eyes and black tear drop tattoos underneath his eyes. Rumor has it he got them when he lost a dare. It was either that or he got them when he was shit faced.

Roxas had met Axel when he went to help for math. The redhead was two years his senior. He may seem towering and a little intimidating, but in truth, he was amusing and loved showing off. Roxas had taken an immediate liking to him, but kept it on a friendly level. There was no way in hell he'd end up with such a handsome guy.

"Hey there Roxas," Axel replied with a smile. Whenever he smiled, Roxas' eyes were drawn to his fang tooth that loved to poke out from his upper lip. It was a cute attribute to the older boy that the blonde happened to like a lot. "You're not crackin' down on the math books?"

Roxas laughed nervously. "Naw, I'm out with my friend, Namine."

The blonde pointed at the girl behind him. Axel looked and nodded at her. "Ah, cute girl. She yours?"

Roxas shook his head with a bit of blush creeping up on his face. Why was Axel asking him about his relationship status? Or was he really? Was it just small chat?

"No, she's my best friend." Roxas looked down and lowered his voice. "I kind of…have a boyfriend."

"Is that so?" Axel asked, his eyebrow raising slightly. His hands were on his lower back as if to balance himself. "Well then…more power to ya, little guy."

Roxas snapped his head up, his mouth agape. He didn't expect Axel to be okay with such a thing. The redhead was the type of guy Sora loved to hang out with. Hell, he probably already did. That meant that he must not like homosexuality on any level.

"Wait…you're okay with it?" Roxas asked tentatively.

Axel shrugged. He turned back to buy some ice cream. "It's not my life, Roxas. I can't tell you how to live it and who to like." He paid for his ice cream and turned around. "Besides, who's to say I'm not gay either?"

Axel smirked at seeing Roxas' face flush full of blood. The older boy took one lick of his ice cream before his cell phone went off. Cursing slightly, he answered. Roxas waited for him to get off the phone, wanting to ask him some questions. But inside, his heart raced. His mind, however, told him not to stray into that type of territory.

"Shit, okay. See you then." Axel snapped his phone shut. He then shoved his ice cream into Roxas' hand. "Sorry, but I gotta run. Work is a bitch. You can have this."

"Wha?! But I can't!" Roxas flustered on the spot. "It's yours!"

"Where I'm going, such a treat isn't allowed," Axel replied. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket. "Besides, just say you owe me."

Roxas was about to reply when Axel leaned down to lick the ice cream again. The redhead then winked and was off. The poor blonde swayed on the spot before he turned on his heel. Namine had been patiently waiting the entire time, but she wasn't one to turn a blind eye.

"Wow," was all she said as her friend returned to the bench. "That was amusing."

Roxas stared intently at the ice cream. He wasn't sure if he should lick it or not. Would that be an indirect kiss? "Namine…?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you come home with me?" Roxas asked. He looked out after where Axel had been. "I don't want to go home and have my mood ruined by Sora."

Namine smiled and nodded. "Sure thing. Um…you gonna eat that?"

As if out of distinction, Roxas clamped his entire mouth over the blue Popsicle. He melted at the sweet and salty taste, but soon jumped back. He had a brain freeze.

♥

"Can you s-p-e-l-l lions?! L-I-O-N-S!"

The cheerleaders waited for the crowd to join in. After they had chanted back to the girls, the brightly colored teens continued.

"LIONS! FIGHT FIGHT! ROAR! L-I-O-N-S! LET'S GO LIONS!"

Everyone cheered loudly with the help from the cheerleaders. The basketball game was almost over and the Destiny Island High Lions were about to win. They were undefeated this season. Many would say it was largely in part thanks to the school's star, Riku. He had enough speed, form, and talent to fulfill the role of a super star even if he pursued the career after high school. He certainly had enough fans willing to fall at his feet to attest to this.

The buzzer rang to signal the end of the game causing the crowd to roar like lions; the school's traditional cry. Screams of delight erupted from the cheerleaders as they jumped for joy. A single cheerleader with red hair rushed out to the court and found Riku.

"That was awesome, Riku!" the girl exclaimed. She looked up at the silver haired teenager. "You were our hero once again this game."

The boy smirked, his aqua eyes flashing with adrenaline. "Kairi, you're making it sound like it was a bigger deal than it was."

"But it was!" Kairi said loudly. She shook her pom poms to emphasize her statement. "Sora will say so too once he gets here.

Riku rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Sora will agree with whatever you say. You know that. You have that boy wrapped around your finger."

"I do not!" The girl couldn't help but giggle. "If anyone does, it's you. He does whatever you say."

"That'll be the day…," Riku mumbled as Sora popped into view. "Well speak of the devil."

"Hey! Man, that was an awesome save you made, Riku! And it was so cool when you intercepted that guy's pass!" Sora continued to ramble on, but soon stopped when he saw the looks Kairi was giving Riku. "What's going on?"

"I _told_ you, Riku!" Kairi laughed. "You did do well!"

"Whatever," the older teen sighed.

"Hey, I saw cameras here from the news!" Sora said suddenly. He whipped his head around looking to see if they were still here. "I think the game will be put on T.V. tonight!"

Riku groaned. "That's so what I need… More spotlight on me."

"I'd so give my left foot to be on T.V.!" Sora whined. "You're so lucky, Riku!"

"Don't tell me you're going to watch it tonight," Riku asked, his eyes widening a bit. "You just saw the game, why relive it?"

"Why not?!" Sora asked, his arms waving about. He was still pretty amped from the game. "It was such an awesome game! Who knows what they shot! It could all be of you and it'd be really cool!"

"It's not _that_ great to get on local television," Riku sighed. "You're making it a big deal, Sora."

"So what? I can't be happy for my best friend?" Sora crossed his arms and pouted.

Riku looked at his younger friend seriously. He was touched by the words, but brushed them off. It was nothing. He shook his head with a smile and sighed. "Yeah, do whatever you want."

"Gee, thanks for your permission," Sora said. Riku ruffled his hair and the two began their playful banter that they've shared through childhood.

Kairi threw her hands up in the air, shaking her pom poms wildly. "You two are like a married couple, I _swear_!"

♥

A book fell from Namine's backpack as she tossed it to Roxas' bedroom floor. She took a seat on the computer chair while waiting for her friend to join her. It was only seconds before the blonde boy entered the room that Namine realized her book was on the ground.

"Oh, here. I got it," Roxas said, bending to scoop it up.

"Oh, no! It's okay, I got it!" Namine cried frantically as she lurched for it.

The two almost collided, but luckily Namine's launch caused the chair to fly backwards and bringing some of the girl with it. She fell just short of Roxas, her arms outstretched.

"What's the big deal?" Roxas asked with a chuckle. "It's not like it's your diary or anything, is it?"

"No, but it's…," Namine mumbled. She sat up and held her hand out. "Here, I'll take it now."

Roxas was about to hand it back to her when his eyes caught the cover of the book. "What's this? A witch book?" The blonde raised his blue eyes to his female friend on the floor. "Namine, are you studying to be a witch?"

Namine nodded slowly. She wasn't looking at her friend. "It's…just so interesting to me. I love the spells in there…"

Roxas smirked and handed the book back to his little blonde friend. "Just don't put anything on me."

"You're not…creeped out or anything?" Namine asked cautiously, slowly taking the book back. "Most people are."

"Yeah and most people are creeped by me too," Roxas laughed. The two stared at one another before they came to a mutual understanding. Suddenly the teen looked at his clock. "Oh hey, that movie is coming on. Let's get downstairs."

Namine smiled and jumped up. She hugged her witch book to her chest and followed Roxas down the stairs. The living room had a beautiful, brand new high definition, plasma television complete with surround sound. It was highly envied on the islands since such a beast of a television set was hard to come by anymore.

Just as the two friends were about to occupy the plush couch seated perfectly in front of the screen, a door slammed followed by thundering feet. It sounded like trouble in the form of a brunette sixteen year old.

"Roxas, leave. I've got claims on the T.V." Sora jumped down the last step with a loud_thump_ and walked to the coffee table where the remote control lay.

"Hello to you too," Roxas muttered with a roll of his eyes. "And no, we're not leaving. We're gonna watch a movie."

"Well too bad. I'm gonna watch the news," Sora shot back. He reached down to gobble up the remote, but his brother went for it too.

Both stopped and glared at one another. Roxas then smiled. "You're watching the news? This is new. Why the sudden change in education?"

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Oh shut up and just leave. Whatever movie you're going to watch is probably going to be boring and stupid. Some B rated, independent movie that no one cares about except you geeks."

"At least it's more interesting than the druggy, slutty crap _you_ watch," Roxas snapped back.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Just get out of here!"

The brunette reached for the remote once again, but Roxas grabbed hold at the same time. A tight struggle match for it soon ensued. Namine looked between the two in fear. She had never seen a fight between the two go this far. Was it really worth it?

Roxas groaned in anger. "Let go of it!"

"No! It's mine!" Sora exclaimed.

"No it's not!"

"It's not like it has your name on it!"

Roxas laughed. "Wow, how old are you?"

"Fuckin' A, Roxas! Let go!"

"No! I was here first!" Roxas began tugging harder, but Sora wasn't one to let up anytime soon.

"You hypocrite!" Sora growled. "How old are _you_?"

"Guys…," Namine started, but got shot down. She looked down at her book as the two boys continued to argue. A strange idea struck her.

Flipping open her book, Namine searched the pages quickly. Spells upon spells graced her fingers as she scanned the pages. Before her, the boys continued their fight. Their voices began to rise and their words became more childish. A few times the blonde girl was scared that a brawl would break out, but neither twin would release the precious remote.

"Found it!" Namine exclaimed, but her words were lost to the shouting match. "You two who cannot quell your diversities, I now substitute your bodies! Be generous to one another and you'll no longer be the other!"

It came without warning. Only Namine saw the switch as a blue and golden glow covered Sora and Roxas' bodies. The two teens looked around, but never released the remote. They felt their feet move first and slide around on the carpet towards their other twin. Then, their torso and arms soon followed with their head flying last. Namine watched as the highlighted radiance flopped to the other boy and then vanish quickly. It happened so fast that the young witch didn't know what had truly passed.

The boys broke apart as they were now dizzy. Both fell to the ground with loud cries of pain. Namine rushed to Roxas, relieved to see he was still his blonde teenaged self. She checked on Sora to see he was still the same as well.

Stooping down, Namine asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the blonde replied. His voice still sounded the same. When he opened his eyes, they were still the same blue.

Namine sighed. Maybe her spell hadn't worked, but at least the fighting had stopped. She looked over at Sora. "Are you okay, Sora?"

"I just said I was fine." Namine looked back at the teen in confusion. The blonde was rubbing the back of his head and triumphantly held the remote in his hand. He struggled to stand up. "Hah, Roxas! You lost!"

The other twin began to get up as well, but stopped. The brunette was staring directly at his blonde twin. "Sora…what's…going on?"

Both teens stared at one another. Namine then knew that her spell had worked. Sora was now Roxas and Roxas was Sora.

Knowing this was all her fault Roxas in Sora's body snapped his head at his friend. "What did you _do_ Namine?!"

Namine ducked her head, careful to conceal her smile. Why wouldn't she be proud of her first successful spell? "I switched your bodies. Now you're in the other one."

Twins gaped at the blonde girl. One looked ready to kill while the other was ready to faint. It was hard for Namine to distinguish which one was going to harm her or not.

There was a very loud, high-pitched scream that suddenly filled the house. At first, Namine thought it was Roxas who did it since it came from his mouth, but it was really Sora in the boy's body. This would take some getting used to.

"What do I do?! I can't stay in this body!" Sora began grabbing the new clothes on him and his brother's hair on his head. "This is so wrong! I can't live like this for the rest of my life!"

Roxas put his hands down from his ears. "Calm down, will ya? This has to be temporary. Right, Namine?"

"Of course," the girl replied. She pointed at her book on the table. She had placed the book there when the boys fell to the ground.

Sora pounced upon the spell book eagerly. "Great! So what is it?"

"Well you see, there is no _specific_ cure," Namine started. She rubbed her other arm nervously. "Like… I can't say another spell to undo this one."

Sora looked up at Namine with dread all over Roxas' face. "So what do we do then?"

"That's just the thing," Namine said. "The spell is only as permanent as you make it."

"Come again?" Sora asked tilting his head.

Namine sat down in front of the book quickly. "Look, it's simple. The cure is in the spell itself. 'Be generous to one another and you'll no longer be the other'."

Roxas looked at his brother and waited for it to click into his head. It took a few minutes, but then the brunette now blonde understood.

"So I have to do something _nice_ for Roxas?" Sora asked sounding almost disgusted. His twin was a little offended, but scooted back as he watched his body jump up. "I know!"

The teen ran quickly to the kitchen nearby. Roxas and Namine soon joined him to see what he was up to. Sora was moving faster than his brother had ever seen him in his life. He was pulling all kinds of ingredients out from the cupboards and fridge. He was muttering things to himself as he started concocting whatever it was that sparked his interest.

Roxas looked at Namine with a confused look to his face. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"I know spells, not your brother," Namine giggled. Roxas tilted his head. "I'm sorry, it's weird to hear Sora's voice and yet know that it's you that's talking."

Roxas sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Yeah… don't remind me. I wish this was some joke or something, but it's not." He shook his leg and arms. "These aren't mine, but they are now…for however long it'll take."

"It won't take very long!" Sora exclaimed. He then shoved a bowl under Roxas' face. "Here!"

"What is it?" Roxas asked, looking at the blue goo in the bowl questionably. "Is it legal?"

"It's your favorite sea salt ice cream, stupid!" Sora shouted angrily. He caught himself, held up a hand, and started over. "I mean…I made you your favorite ice cream, dear younger brother! It's sea salt ice cream! All for you!"

Roxas looked at Sora and promptly began to laugh himself silly. Namine couldn't even help herself. The other boy stood before them holding a bowl with a sour expression to his face. He had worked hard and now was being laughed at.

"Oh sure! Laugh it all out!" Sora yelled. "At least I'm trying to be generous!"

Roxas waved his hand as he calmed down. He wiped his eye of a tear and coughed. "No, no, Sora. It's not that. It's just funny to see you do that. It was all fast and yeah." Roxas had to cough a few more times to completely stop laughing. "But thanks. I appreciate it. But…I don't think that's nice enough."

"Not nice enough?!" Sora nearly dropped the bowl, but remembered there would be an angry mother in his near future if he did. "How come?!"

"I think the spell calls for something on a bigger scale," Namine said. She eyed the ice cream suspiciously. It didn't look safe.

"Like what?" Sora put the bowl on the counter behind him. "Do I have to take a test for him or something? Oh, I know! I'll pass math for you, Roxas!"

Roxas snorted. "That'll be the day."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked, crossing his arms.

"You're just as bad as I am with math," Roxas replied with a smirk.

"At least I don't have a tutor!"

"_Hey_! Don't you _dare_ say a thing about Axel!" Roxas spat.

"Oh, touched a nerve didn't I?" Sora smiled. "Is that how you work your tutor lessons? Do you fuck him?"

Roxas socked his brother in the face, but was soon tackled to the ground. The two began to kick, claw, and punch each other while shouting obscenities and more insults. Namine watched the two for a few minutes before she grabbed the ice cream. Careful to not get splattered on too, the girl flipped the bowl upside down over the twins. Both yelped as the sticky goo hit them. They pulled apart and tried to wipe themselves clean.

"What was that for, Namine?!" both exclaimed.

Namine put the bowl on the counter and put her hands on her hips. "If you want to go back to normal you'll have to stop doing _this_! This is why I cast the spell, so that you two would stop fighting all the time! It's ridiculous! You should really watch how you two act! I'm sick and tired of it!"

Namine stopped to catch her breath. She saw the twins staring at her in shock and awe. The blonde looked down, quickly sliding her hands off her hips. She giggled nervously as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Wow… I've never seen _that_ before," Roxas mumbled.

"You should do it more often," Sora said.

Namine smiled hopefully at Sora. "Really?"

"Sure."

Roxas looked back and forth between the two incredulously. "Um, sorry to break up this moment ya got going on here, but I'm covered in ice cream and I'm stuck in my brother's body."

Sora sighed as he got up. "You see Roxas, that's your problem. You're only thinking about yourself. What about me?"

Roxas rolled his eyes as he stood up too. "Oh _please_! You have half, if not the entire school, at your every beck and call. You don't need me to worry about you."

"_Hey_!" Namine boomed. The boys jumped and looked at the girl. "Stop it before you begin again! You two _have_ to think of each other, yes, but you should really think of other people as well. Do you think you're the only ones affected by your fighting?"

"Gee, I never thought if that way," Roxas said. He looked at Namine sadly. "Sorry, Nam."

The girl smiled and waved it off. "I'm okay. I just put a curse on you two."

Sora cringed. "Could you not call it that?"

"Well isn't it?" Roxas asked. "I mean I dunno about you, but I don't wanna go to school tomorrow and-"

"Oh my God! School!" Sora grabbed his face in complete fear. "What'll I do?! I can't go to school as my _gay_ brother! Ew, oh no! Oh _no!_ I have to be with your boyfriend! Oh _hell_ no!"

"Oh, like I want to be with your preppy fake friends?" Roxas asked.

"Don't call them that," Sora warned.

"Boys…" Both teens looked at Namine to see her shaking her head. "Don't start fighting again. Right now you two have to come to an agreement."

"Agreement on what?" Roxas asked. "There's nothing to agree on. We're just not going to go to school."

"All right Roxas!" Sora punched his fist into the air. "I vote for playing hooky too!"

"No," Namine said. "How can you two be selfless when staying inside? You both need to go out there and act like nothing happened."

"You're joking, right?" Roxas asked. Namine shook her head. "You _really_ expect Sora and I to pretend to be one another?"

"You're going to have to," Namine replied sadly.

"There's no way I'm kissing another guy," Sora said flatly. He crossed his arms angrily until he realized he was still covered in ice cream. He moved to get some paper towels and clean up.

"Good because you're not." Roxas moved over to clean up as well. "Just as I'm not going to participate in any of your stupid prep things you're involved in."

"Oh yes you are!" Sora cried indignantly.

"Why?" Roxas asked as he finished wiping his arm. He moved on to the back of his legs.

"Because I'm a valued part of our school spirit! That's why!" Sora looked at Roxas like he had lost his mind.

Roxas just stared right back at his brother in his body with the exact same expression. "Oh dear me no. I can't make it to the pep rally. How _ever_ will I survive?!"

Namine shook her head. It seemed hopeless. The two would calm down only to get right back into an argument. Was switching their bodies really such a good thing?

Just when it seemed another fight would start up again, there was a slam of a door. All three teens stopped. The clunking of high heels was heading their way.

"Sora?! Roxas?! Where are you two?!" called their mother. Both boys looked at each other in panic. They then stared at Namine in hopes that she knew a solution. "Oh, there you are. Hello there, Namine."

"Hello ma'am," Namine replied meekly. She couldn't look at the two boys. Hoping to make a quick exit, she began to scoot towards the kitchen door. "It's getting late and-"

Roxas grabbed his friend's arm suddenly. "Can Namine stay for dinner?!"

The mother stopped. She was in the middle of sorting through the mail. She raised an eyebrow at her son. "I didn't know you were friends with Namine, Sora."

"Er…" Roxas mentally kicked himself. It was so natural he had forgotten that his outer appearance was still that of Sora's. "She's helping me with Chemistry, that's why."

Namine and Sora both sighed. The boy's quick thinking had really helped. The mother seemed to buy the excuse and nodded. The blonde girl quickly called her parents and got the okay there as well. The teens excused themselves where they disappeared upstairs.

"Okay, let's figure something out here," Roxas began. They sat themselves on the floor of his room. It was the second largest room in the house next to their parent's room, so it provided enough space for them. "What's coming up that one of us can fulfill for the other?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked. He pulled over a stress ball and began to toss it lazily from hand to hand.

"I mean like, is there an important event you _must_ be at or something. If there is, I could go and that'd be a selfless deed," Roxas explained.

"How would it be selfless?" Sora asked.

Roxas sighed and tried to not raise his voice even a fraction of the volume. "Because I don't want to go to anything that you're involved in. I find it stupid. But if I _do_ go for you, I'll be helping you out."

Sora stopped tossing the ball back and forth. He looked at his brother seriously. "But Roxas, I meant how is that selfless?"

"I just told you that!" Roxas exclaimed.

"No, no. You're not getting what I mean." Sora waved his hands back and forth.

"Obviously not." The exhausted twin crossed his arms. "Okay, tell me what you mean."

"Selfless acts come without warning. I mean, the kind of selfless acts that I think would work are things for someone else that just happens." Sora looked over at Namine. "Right? I mean it wouldn't exactly work if we_knew_ what we were gonna help each other out with. The point of this is to help one another, but if we predicted what day that would be we'd just stay away until then. At least, I know I would. I'd get the flu or a cold or something."

There was a long pause as Namine and Roxas stared at Sora. It was as if he had sprouted another head that actually said meaningful words; least that was what his twin thought of him. The female of the trio, though, was actually impressed by the boy's insight.

"I think he's right, Roxas," Namine said. "This is one of those personal growth spell."

Roxas rolled his eyes and buried his head in his hands. "Great…," he groaned.

"I think you two should start writing down each other's schedules and the Do's and Don'ts of each other's days," Namine said. She ripped out two pieces of blank drawing paper from her sketchbook on Roxas' desk that she had left there earlier. "It'll really come in handy tomorrow."

Roxas took the paper. He spook aloud as he wrote. "Rule number one: _Do not kiss, touch, flirt, or mess with my boyfriend_.

Sora snorted. "No worries there, brother." He took the paper as well and wrote a few lines. "Rule number one: _Do not make me look like an idiot_.

Roxas looked over his paper. There was a playful smile to his lips. "That's going to be hard, Sora…"

Sora laughed mockingly. "Very funny. You're a real riot."

"I know. I should go on tour or something." Roxas looked back at his paper.

"I'll totally be there to hurl tomatoes at you."

Namine sighed. At least they weren't fighting. Things seemed to be a little smoother. The three of them worked together into the night, leaning what one another did in their spare time, but soon they were denied their visiting time with their witch. They bade her a good night as they soon had to turn in as well.

"Uh, where are you going?" Roxas asked. He watched his brother's retreating back. "That's not your room."

"No, but I thought I should sleep in your room," Sora said. He turned to his twin. "Mom likes to peek in on us every now and then in the night. She might freak if we're sleeping in one another's beds."

"Sora, she did that when we were five. We're sixteen now. Go to your own room." Roxas brushed past his brother and slammed the door closed.

It was then that Sora realized something. Roxas had written very little on his list of things for his brother to do and hadn't explained anything to him. His life was very vague to begin with, but even with description it still seemed so hazy. Sora's list went on and on about specific things he ate and what spots he usually hung around at. The poor twin was left almost naked compared to how well prepared Roxas was.

Sora thought that maybe Roxas didn't want him invading his personal space, but space wasn't an issue anymore. They were inhabiting each other's bodies; what could get more invasive than that? The slightly older teen set out to make it his business from then on to understand his brother in anyway he could. If the only thing keeping him apart from his normal life was a shy younger brother, then the boy would do everything in his power to know any and everything there was to his twin.


	2. Mysterious Monday

_hoshiko's note_: Wow, I didn't think I'd get such a good response to the last chapter. Like the last one, this chapter isn't beta'd, so any mistakes can be pointed at me. Things have been hectic, but I'm pretty sure I can get back to my regular updates now. Check back next Friday for the third chapter.

* * *

_Mysterious Monday_

Sora awoke in a bed with the warm blankets up to his head. Peering over the top he could tell instantly that this was his own room. The day before had been a dream, right? He looked at his hands. They seemed the same, but just to be sure the boy got up. He slowly walked to the mirror by his bedroom. His blonde haired twin looked back at him.

"Arg!" Sora groaned in frustration. He grabbed bits of his hair and tugged on it. "This is so fucked up! What am I gonna do?"

There was a knock on his door. Not sure whether or not to open it up, Sora waited. There was a loud sigh on the other side.

"It's me, idiot. Open up." Sora did as he was told and saw his body walk into the room. "Okay, help me get dressed."

"We switched bodies. That doesn't mean we don't know how to change," Sora said.

Roxas growled at his brother. "Not like that you moron. I meant tell me what to wear. Now show me!"

Sora looked at Roxas with an angry expression. "Not until you ask nicely."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Okay, _please_?"

Sora smiled and pointed at his closet. "Everything you need is in there."

"All right… So what kind of stuff do you wear?" Roxas poked his head in to the closet and began going through his brother's things.

"I tend to wear bright colors, something you've never worn." Sora started to pull out some outfits. He moaned knowing he couldn't wear his precious attire. It took him years to perfectly coordinate everything.

"You know, I wore them when I was a kid too, ya know," Roxas said. "You make it sound like I've been a punk all my life or something."

Sora shrugged. "Could've fooled me."

"You know what? You can just kiss your normal routine good-bye!" Roxas glared at his brother.

Stopping his work quickly, Sora spun around, eyes wide. "Wait, _why_?! I'm helping you! Come on!"

"I don't need your lip this early," Roxas shot back.

"Boys?" Their mother had popped her head into the room. "What're you doing in Sora's room, Roxas?"

Roxas began to answer, but Sora cut him off. It would seem weird for his body to be answering when it was the blonde their mother had asked. "Er, I just needed to ask him something, mom."

"You two better hurry up. I'm not driving you to school today." Their mother was in the middle of putting earrings in her ear. "I have to wait for the cable man to get here. Roxas, you have your permit so you get to drive today. Make sure you lock the car when you get to school."

Sora's jaw dropped open. He smiled widely. "You got it mom!"

Their mother smiled and left the room. Sora smiled evilly at Roxas. The younger teen glared at his twin in disgust. "I don't think this is a good idea…"

"Why not?" Sora asked as he pulled out some shoes. He had to make sure Roxas' outfit was completely accurate. "I can drive!"

"Sora, you almost drove into a fucking pole last week!" Roxas laughed. "You cannot drive."

"That pole was not there a second ago!" Sora cried.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, because all us smart people know that poles jump out and attack student drivers. Right…"

Sora threw a jumble of clothes at his laughing brother. "Would you shut up and change already? God…"

Roxas looked at the array of bright blues and reds and greens. "What the hell is this? I'm not wearing this."

"Yes you are. If I have to wear what you wear then so will you." Sora crossed his arms. "Come on, it's not that bad."

"How about we come to a compromise?" Roxas asked. He pulled out the green shirt and tossed it aside. "I'll wear this red shirt, but not that. I'll prep down and you can spruce up my attire a little bit."

Sora's face lit up instantly. He raced out of the room, hell bent on getting to Roxas' closet. His brother chased him to make sure nothing went too astray. They argued for a little while on what was considered a compromise until their mother yelled at them to leave for school.

"Why do you look so depressed, Sora?" their mother asked upon seeing the twins enter the foyer. "I thought you'd be thrilled to not be dropped off by your mother."

Roxas growled as he glared at his brother. "I prefer you over my _brother_."

Their mother shook her head. "You boys _really_ need to stop fighting. Girls won't like that."

"Then it's a good thing I don't like boys," Sora blurted out. It had come out so normally that Roxas was a bit surprised his brother had stumbled over his words.

"Yes, well… boys won't like it either for you Roxas. Now get to school." Their mother then left.

Roxas breathed a sigh of relief. "Wow that was smooth. Nice."

Sora shrugged. "Yeah, well I thought of what sort of gay thing you'd say and went with it."

Roxas rolled his eyes as they left the house. But once outside, he felt naked. He didn't think he'd _ever_ wear such horrible clothes. Or that he'd wear a backpack again. He already missed his grey messenger bag that Sora was now begrudgingly hosting.

♥

"You're serious?" Roxas asked. His face was void of all color as he stared at the large mass of people near the entrance of the school. They laughed loudly, smoked, invaded spaces, and looked all around wrong for the teen. "Sora, I can't do this!"

"Yes you can! You have to!" the twin hissed. "Hey, I have to act gay! You have to act straight now!"

Roxas turned to face his brother. He dug his nails into Sora's arm as he clung to him. "No, there are too many people. You know I hate large crowds."

"I didn't, actually," Sora replied with a surprised look to his face.

"Well now you do so don't force me to go over there!" Roxas was starting to panic. He was being forced into the most uncomfortable situation he could think of next to going to school buck naked; though, to him, it already seemed that way. "Please, Sora!"

"Wow, you've never said please to me. Well other than this morning." Sora began to laugh. He felt Roxas' nails dive deeper into his skin. The teen winced and glared at his brother. "All right, all right. Look, if you don't want to hang with them, go find Kairi and Riku. But at least go over and say hi. It's something I do all the time."

"Fine, but you're coming with me!" Roxas turned and pulled his brother along.

Sora struggled to get free from the boy's grasp. "_No_! I can't be seen with you! It's embarrassing!"

"Fine, then I won't go over to them." Roxas stopped.

"No! You have to!"

"No I don't!"

"What's going on here?" The boys froze and turned. Roxas' boyfriend was standing near them. He had his backpack listless hanging from one arm and the other arm had his hand placed on his hip. He was looking between the two curiously. "This is new."

"Hayner!" Roxas exclaimed. He let go of Sora instantly and sped towards his boyfriend. His brother was quicker, though. The teen pulled on the back of the boy's shirt to stop him.

"Hi there!" Sora cried as he pushed past Roxas. He went to Hayner like nothing had happened. "Sora's being really weird today, that's all. Don't mind him."

"When do I ever?" Hayner asked. He casually slung an arm around Sora's shoulder.

Sora wasn't sure whether to wince at the harshness of his statement or push away from that arm. Sadly, since he had come over, he now had to endure being his brother. He desperately wanted to join his friends. It seemed they were having such a good time without him.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to go now, huh, Sora?" Roxas looked at his brother in surprise. "You know, go hang out with your friends." Sora nodded over at the large group of people.

Roxas shook his head. "Naw, I think I'm going to go find Riku and Kairi."

"You're not going to say hi to them?" Sora asked, hinting at his brother to do as he was told.

"Naw, they're jerks." Roxas turned on his heel and left. He smiled to himself knowing that Sora couldn't run after him to defend them. It would be out of character, something that was number one on their priority list to not have happen.

Sora stood next to Hayner watching Roxas walking the opposite way to enter the high school. The teen knew that was his brother's usual way to go into school. Deep inside, the boy's inside churned with uneasiness and anger, all of which were directed at his twin.

"Well today sounds like it's going to be interesting." Hayner leaned over to kiss Sora, but the boy moved away quickly.

"Ah! No, no!" Sora exclaimed, his hands up almost in self defense.

"What's wrong?" the blonde asked.

"Uh, I think I'm getting sick and I don't want you to get it," Sora answered quickly. He had never come up with so many lies so easily in such a short span of time.

Hayner smirked. "All right, cool. Thanks."

The bell rang. The blonde grabbed Sora's hand and walked into school, the front entrance way. The anger that had been boiling up inside the boy's stomach instantly froze. He almost forgot how to function at all. They were making a bee line right for the mass of students he knew so well.

"Oh my God! Stop doing that!" one of the girls shouted.

"Stuff it," Hayner mumbled. He tightened his grip on Sora's hand.

"You two are so_sick_!" a boy exclaimed. He tossed some crumbs from a bag of cookies at the two boys. "I can't believe you're related to Sora, Roxas! You should be disowned!"

"Seriously! How can your mother be sane knowing she has you?!" the crowd jeered. They all began to laugh as they followed the two boys into the high school.

Sora almost whirled around to shout back at them, but remembered his place. While at school, Roxas was very reserved and hardly paid attention to anything that didn't concern him. Unfortunately, he had never seen his friends make such horrible fun at his brother. Now walking in his twin's shoes he could possibly see why he was so miserable all the time.

"Just ignore them," Hayner said. He smirked back at Sora reassuringly. "It's a good thing you don't have class with them, huh?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. He couldn't help but smile back. It was nice to know someone was at his back.

But the boy just couldn't shake the sinking sensation developing inside him. Sora knew that Roxas had sometimes had it hard while at school. The islands were a small community that didn't really take to homosexual relationships. The teen was pretty positive that his brother had never been physically harmed, but visible attacks can heal over time. Words stick and slip past the skin far into the recesses of a memory. They hardly ever heal, especially if they're continually thought upon.

Sora thought that maybe he could help his brother out just a little bit. It must not be all that fun to go to school dreading to meet those types of people by chance. But how, exactly, was he going to help Roxas with his own friends? The group was a reasonable group most of the time. Maybe going and talking to them would help? It was worth a shot.

♥

Roxas was relieved to enter high school and not get glares or odd stares. Instead, he heard his name called from afar and people coming up to him to talk and pat his back telling him how awesome he was. Boys he didn't even know were asking him questions about popular television shows. Girls he had only glanced at in the hallway were now talking to him about the latest gossip.

_I think I preferred being ignored or stared at_, Roxas thought.

"Hey there, Sora!" Riku exclaimed. He was hanging out by his locker near the field.

"Hey," Roxas replied with a slight smile. He was looking down at his feet.

Seeing his boyfriend glare at him was something new and the teen wasn't too sure how he was going to handle it. Even though Namine had warned him that such a reaction might occur, the boy really hadn't prepared himself. Riku noticed this right away and became concerned.

"Sora, you okay? What's wrong?" Riku asked.

Roxas snapped his head up. He had forgotten the number one rule; never look upset, it's bad for your reputation and it makes Riku worry. That was the one thing Sora stressed the most next to "don't embarrass the fuck out of me".

"Oh, no. Sorry. I was thinking about something," Roxas replied. He forced a smile that was as natural as he could make it seem.

Riku didn't buy it. He closed his locker and turned to his friend. "Seriously, what's wrong? You look upset."

Waving his hands wildly, Roxas denied it. "No, really. I'm fine!"

The older teen continued to look at his best friend for a little while longer before turning away. He sighed while running a hand through his hair.

"All right, if you say so." Riku smiled gently at Roxas, something that caught the boy off guard. It was such a genuine expression that the boy could hardly remember when someone looked at him so sweetly with concern underneath. "So tell me what you were thinking about."

Roxas fought back any blush that might have snuck up on his brother's face. That probably fell in the lines of "don't embarrass the fuck out of me." Cool people don't blush over something their best friends say to them.

"Oh, um. Math test today…," Roxas mumbled.

Riku chuckled. "You're worried about that math test? You and I have been studying for it for weeks. How could you possibly be worried about it?"

Roxas was caught a little off guard. "Wait, we did?"

"Uh, yeah? Don't you remember all the phone calls and online chats?" Riku slung his backpack over one arm while shaking his head.

"Oh…yeah, right. Sorry. See? I'm really stressin' out here." Roxas began rubbing his head furiously in aggravation. He now understood just why Sora had been on the phone and online so much recently. Roxas was more the online solitude brother than his twin.

Riku reached out and pat Roxas' shoulder. He was laughing at his friend. "Sora, you're too funny some days. It's cute."

Both boys stopped and looked at one another. Roxas wasn't sure how to take that, but Riku just continued to laugh. The bell rang telling the two to depart. Unfortunately, the boy was now off kilter by the statement the silver haired boy had just said.

"Uh, sorry. That came out pretty weird, didn't it?" Riku asked with a laugh. Roxas nodded. "Yeah well, you know I never mean that shit, right?"

Roxas nodded his head slowly. "Have you called me cute before…?"

Riku laughed again. "Well sometimes it's just obvious and I state the obvious a lot…so… Crap, we better get to class. We might be late."

Before anything more was said, the older teen disappeared into the mass of students that began their slow paces to class. Roxas swayed on the spot for a minute, but slowly broke into a smile. His suspicions were slowly coming true. As long as he had Sora's body, why not dive a little deeper into the matter?

♥

Sora had been sitting through class writing furiously some lines he could say to his friends. It would prove to be one of the most awkward things he'd ever endure in his life, but switching bodies with his own twin brother was a little higher up there on the list. The boy could handle any uncomfortable situations now.

Once the bell had rung, he was out the door. Sora had kept a pretty regular schedule of where he hung out just in case anyone needed to find him. He knew that at this particular break he was usually hanging out by the senior lockers. The boy had thought upon multiple scenarios of what would happen if Roxas was there, but he figured his brother was staying unusually close to Riku and Kairi for the day. That would be just perfect.

Sora found his target bustling around their lockers and marched right up to them. He was determined to settle things once and for all. Maybe then, Roxas could have any easier time at school and maybe the boy could stop hearing about how strange his brother was. Then things would fix themselves, their bodies would return to normal, and all would be right in the world?

Oh the way Sora thought was so naïve. How could he overlook such a bleak outcome that would most likely occur?

And soon did as Sora was slowly starting to be pushed away. His friends would have nothing to do with his requests.

"I just don't get it. What did I ever do to you guys?" Sora asked sadly.

"You're just a freak and we don't like you. There's nothing to it," a particularly tall boy replied with a snort. He was in front of the rest with his arms crossed. Sora had never been intimated by his friend before, but soon found himself completely scared for his life.

"So I can't be friends with you?" Sora received loud laughter that caused most students to stop and look. "I was serious!"

"Why in the world would _we_ wanna be friends with _you_?" a blonde girl asked while laughing. Sora was surprised to hear such contempt from her mouth. She was usually so sweet.

"I'm doing this…for my brother," Sora lied. At least he thought he lied.

To his dismay, Sora was met with even more of a raucous laugh. The group started chattering furiously about what a ridiculous idea that was and how it could never happen. How stupid the boy was for even asking such a thing.

One boy pushed his way to the front. Sora stepped back slightly. He didn't want to hear anything bad come from this boy's mouth. The two were pretty close. "Is this some sort of _joke_?! I mean _really_! Are you doing this for shits and giggles or something?"

"I mean it…," Sora mumbled. He had lost all his confidence that anything good was going to happen.

The boy shook his head. He looked back at his friends. "This fag's serious, guys!"

"Wow!" they all shouted back in fake surprise.

"I guess we should comply, huh?" a girl said loudly near the back.

Sora wasn't sure who that was exactly, but he didn't have time to dwell on the matter. He was grabbed by his arms by a few boys and hoisted off his feet. The teen looked around wildly as he watched his friends laugh and jeer at him. He had no idea where they were leading him to; his back was to the direction they were headed.

All of a sudden, things became very dark and very cramped. Sora was shoved down into a trash can with every one of his friends laughing down at him. The boy cried and screamed for help. He had forgotten Roxas' rules to remain calm during most taunting situations, but the teen thought this was overdoing things a bit.

The group soon laughed after teasing him more, but the laughter remained. It cut incredibly deep.

"Roxas!" Namine's pale face soon appeared at the top of the container. "Oh my gawd, are you okay?!"

"I will be once you get me out of here…," Sora mumbled.

"Roxas, what the _hell_ was that all about?" Hayner's face joined Namine's in looking down at the boy.

Sora blushed deeply. Roxas was _not_ going to forgive him anytime soon if he learned that he had not only gotten himself shoved into a trash can, but that his boyfriend had seen the entire situation.

"Er…I…" Sora just couldn't do it. Too many lies in too short of a time span. "I'll explain when you get me out of here."

Hayner laughed and shook his head. "You got yourself in there. You can get yourself out."

"Hayner!" Namine exclaimed. She furrowed her brow a bit as she crossed her arms. "He's your boyfriend!"

"So? He's still a dumbass for being down there," Hayner said, holding firm to Namine's harsh tone.

Sora began to rock in the trash can hoping it would tip over. "Um…any help of any kind would be nice…"

Namine sighed and after a quick glare to Hayner, she helped Sora escape the disgusting bin. The boy was completely embarrassed by the incident and by his new accessories that hung off his body like a horribly smelly outfit. Both of Roxas' friends glared at one another as Sora hurried to rid himself of the trash in his hair.

"It's okay Namine. Hayner didn't have to… I mean… It would've been nice…" Sora couldn't help but steal a glare at Roxas' boyfriend too. What kind of friend left another to sit in a trash can like that? Suddenly, the boy was very wary of Hayner.

"What? Now you think I'm the bad guy too?" Hayner threw his hands up in the air. "Oh, that's just great. It's not my fault you got dumped in that can and it wasn't my job to help you out either."

"No, but it's just nice," Sora snapped back. "If they had done that to you, I would've helped. It's what friends do. And you're my boyfriend; it's like, mandatory that you help me."

Hayner stared at Sora seriously for a few minutes. He looked about ready to push the boy back into the trash can.

"I don't have time for this." The blonde marched right past Sora, making sure to brush his shoulder roughly against him and Namine, and left.

Sora sighed sadly. "Wow…not my day…"

"Are you okay, Sora?" Namine whispered. She began to groom the boy. "That was really scary."

"Yeah… I'm all right…" Sora looked over at his group of friends. They were still laughing at what had happened. "I just…don't understand… They've never acted like that."

Namine looked over as well. She looked at the boy with sympathy in her eyes. "Of course not. You never knew. You were on the other side. Now you're looking at the same picture from a different angle."

Sora looked at his feet. They were devoid of any trash, but it didn't matter. To the boy, they were disgusting. Those weren't his shoes. They weren't his cool sneakers, but instead Roxas' worn down flats. For some reason, his brother didn't like arches. It kind of hurt and the boy felt he would never get used to them. He really didn't like the feel of them.

It was somewhere around that minute that Sora missed his twin. He looked at Namine in a panic.

"Namine, where's Roxas?" Sora asked quickly.

The girl was caught off guard, but composed herself soon. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Um, I don't know… What's your next class?"

"Computers!" Sora dashed off without another word or a care for his appearance. And sadly, without his bag.

"Roxas! Wait! Your bag!" Namine exclaimed. She snatched hi bag and followed after him, careful to not run into anyone.

Sora tore down the hallways looking for his brother. He kept looking for that flash of blonde and the sullen eyes, but then remembered that he was looking for his own face, his own happy blue eyes, and his own set of hair. That was going to be a little more difficult since a lot of the students have brown hair. So instead, the teen searched for a tall silver haired boy, probably surrounded by girls fawning over him or a girl with red hair wearing pink outfits.

He hit the jackpot and found all three of them talking while heading his way. Sora's face broke into a smile at seeing his twin safe and sound. For some reason, he was extremely worried for the well being of the blonde.

"Sora!" the boy called. It was a little weird to be calling his own name to his face knowing that his brother's soul was in his body right now, but his appearance was probably just as weird to his twin.

Roxas looked over and his face was filled with dread. His eyes snapped back and forth examining his body. As he found more and more pieces of trash littering his clothes and hair, the paler he became. It was apparent that the twin was not pleased to see Sora.

"What're you doing here, Roxas?!" His voice squeaked a bit at the surprise of the sight he saw.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked. He was, at least, a little more worried for what he surmised could've happened to the boy before him.

"I just wanted to talk to you," Sora said with a sigh. He had finally caught his breath.

Roxas' eye twitched a bit. "Why? The bell rang a few seconds ago. Shouldn't you be getting to class?"

Sora knew how much of a stickler his twin was for being on time to class. He also knew that Roxas had _never_ been late to class in his entire life. It was something that his brother was proud about while the other thought it was dorky.

"Yeah, I'll get there," Sora replied.

"No, I think you should get to class little brother." The boy's tone became stern as he glanced backwards at the hallway. He was indicating for Sora to hit the road. Both brothers knew that Roxas was _never_ late or absent for a class if he could help it.

Sora saddened, but he stepped back in sudden shock. His friends had appeared next to his brother. They looked smug as they stared down on the boy. It was obvious how powerful and egotistical they felt as they snickered while staring at the trash collected in the blonde hair.

Riku reached over. Sora was scared at first, not sure if maybe his best friend had also tormented his brother without him knowing about it. Instead, the older boy caught a few of the scraps of garbage between his fingers and plucked them free.

Tossing them aside, Riku chuckled. "What happened to you? Getting too clumsy there, Roxas?"

Sora's mouth was a little agape, but he shook it off. Roxas was normally civil with Riku, but sometimes he could still be curt. After his kindness, the boy decided a little unusual kindness was in order. The older teen had done nothing wrong so what was wrong if he was paid a little gratitude?

"Wow, thanks Riku. That was nice of you to notice there was something wrong with me and worry about me…unlike my brother." Sora glared at Roxas, hoping that his obvious message had penetrated the boy's ears.

But it was clear that Roxas wasn't paying attention. He was far more worried about what time it was. "Fine, fine. I hope you're okay and all that jazz. Whatever. Just get to class already."

Sora smiled slightly up at Riku and raced off to class. Half way down the hallway he wondered why he had run off to see Roxas when it was his best friend that really made him feel better.

Luckily there were no more incidents that day on Sora's part. But the fun didn't end there for Roxas. After the horrifying sight of his brother stumbling up to him in a frantic mess, the large group of people Sora called his friends decided to explain just what had happened. With a slight twist, of course.

"He came up to us demanding we be friends. Can you believe that?" one of the girls said in an insulted tone.

"You're brother is such a jerk, Sora! Why couldn't he be nice like you?" a boy asked.

Roxas laid his head down on his books and covered his eyes. He groaned in utter embarrassment. He wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that he was present for the sigh of Sora covered in trash in his own body, or hearing that half the school saw his body being stuffed into a trash can.

"He's just stupid…," Roxas replied. He lifted his head and rubbed furiously at the messy bangs in his face. Why didn't his brother get a haircut? "I'm going to chop these off…"

"What?" Riku asked. He slipped into the seat next to Roxas. "You're cutting your hair, Sora?"

"Uh…well." Roxas didn't figure anyone had heard him. Now he had to come up with an excuse. He felt bad for lying to so many people in such a short amount of time, but it was the only way to make it through the day. "I was just saying…ya know, since I'm frustrated and all…"

Riku smirked, reaching over to ruffle some of the boy's hair. "Good. I like your hair this way."

Roxas shook his head making Riku's hand leave. "It's been this way since I was a kid…"

"Exactly, keep it that way. It's your hair style and it suits you." Riku smiled brightly over at his friend. "I wouldn't be able to recognize you if you were any different."

Roxas bit his lip, struggling to not ask Riku why he didn't notice that he wasn't Sora. There had been times when the teen had his suspicions, but when the older boy had said those words with such sincerity, it was hard to tell now. Maybe he didn't realize the change in his best friend. Briefly, Roxas wondered if Hayner saw the difference. Sad as it was, he doubted his boyfriend did.

♥

There was a knock on Roxas' door late at night. Glancing over at his clock, the teen decided to ignore the intrusion. He finally had time to sit down and read. However, the knocking continued, this time louder.

"Go away, Sora," Roxas said with a sigh. He flipped his page over angrily. There was nothing more he'd like to do than to stay away from his older brother.

"I need to talk to you," Sora said. "It's important."

Roxas jumped up and swung his door open. He pushed his face right into his brother's. "Important? How? Is it to make me one of you?"

"One of me?" Sora asked while stepping back. He was caught off guard by his twin's sudden angry predisposition. It felt like his reflection was yelling back at him.

"Yeah!" Roxas roared. "Popular and liked and all that crap!"

Sora furrowed his brow at his brother's rude tone. "So what's wrong with that?"

"I'm not like that! I'm not like you!" Roxas spat.

"Oh, I can see that." Sora crossed his arms. "You're always upset. I was just trying to help you out and make your life easier!"

"So you put me in the_trash_ can?!" Roxas asked incredulously.

Sora winced. "Well, I didn't think that would happen…"

Roxas stepped back, his hand firmly on the door. "Stay out of my life. I like it the way it is. Just find some way to fix everything, but don't mess anything else up! Got it?!"

"Roxas, I just want you help you!" Sora cried. He put his hand on the door before his brother slammed the door.

Roxas' eyes began to well up. It was either out of anger or of pain. Either way, Sora was caught completely off guard. His brother normally kept two emotions on his face; boredom and anger, the latter direction almost always at his twin. But now, a look of complete offense at the boy's comment from before was across Roxas' face.

"You haven't helped me since middle school I don't want your pity! Just leave me alone, all right?! How hard is it for you to understand?!" Roxas didn't wait for an answer. He just slammed the door, locking it, making sure Sora didn't have the key.

♥

Sora had no one to talk to. He was quite alone as he stood facing his brother's door. He was in another body, forced to be gay, couldn't talk to his friends, and completely locked out of Roxas' life. The teen couldn't even call Riku for help or talk to his parents about his problems. Everything had been destroyed in Sora's life.

Unsure of what to do next, the boy began to sob. There was no clear answer how to set things right again and he was getting less than noting from his own twin brother. The future looked bleak for Sora until he remembered that not all communication involed vocal and physical presence.

Rushing quickly to his room, Sora wiped his tears. He signed online and instantly message Riku. He was never so happy to see his best friend in all his life.

_OblivionStar_: What's wrong Sora? What's so urgent?

_CrownBoi_: My brother hates me…

_OblivionStar_: Dude, that's nothing new.

_CrownBoi_: It's worse than usual! I really want to help him, but he just won't let me in!

_OblivionStar_: He hasn't been the friendliest guy since middle school.

_CrownBoi_: But why? I don't remember us having a fight or anything. He just stopped being cool.

_OblivionStar_: People change, Sora. To him, you probably changed a lot. It just happens. Even twins can fade out and drift away. No need to get upset about it.

_CrownBoi_: I guess…

_OblivionStar_: Is that what's been bothering you?

_CrownBoi_: No, but this is a big problem right now.

_OblivionStar_: Anything I can do?

_CrownBoi_: You already helped a lot. Thanks Riku.:)

_OblivionStar_: Sure thing. Anything for you. ;)

Sora felt his face grow a bit hot. He looked over at a mirror to see he was red. Was that blush? The teen dismissed it as just how his face looked after he cried.

_OblivionStar_: So do you know what you're going to do?

_CrownBoi_: Well other than Roxas' anger focused on me, I think a lot of his problems stem from his boyfriend.

_OblivionStar_: That guy _is_ a bit of a jerk, but I guess your brother goes for those kinds of guys.

_CrownBoi_: Yeah, well, I guess I do too. I put up with you for all these years.

_OblivionStar_: What was that?

_CrownBoi_: Haha. I was thinking of talking to Hayner and trying to get him to loosen up on my brother. I once saw them fighting a few weeks ago and I swear I thought that guy was gonna slap Roxas. My brother cried later that night. He doesn't know I heard him, though.

_OblivionStar_: Dick…

_CrownBoi_: I don't want Roxas to be popular. I know that's not where his place is. I just don't want our friends to be treating him like crap anymore.

_OblivionStar_: Did it take the trash can incident today to make you see how they are to your brother?

_CrownBoi_: What?

_OblivionStar_: Those guys have been assholes to your brother long before today, Sora.

_CrownBoi_: Well… Either way, I wanna try and help my brother. I don't like seeing him so upset all the time. I miss how we used to be, always playing and stuff and having fun. You remember?

_OblivionStar_: Yeah, I do.

_CrownBoi_: I'd do anything to get that back…

_OblivionStar_: That's 'cause you're a nice guy, Sora.

Sora said goodnight to his friend only to see that his face was still red. He washed his face in hopes of making all that redness go away and went to bed. The boy fell asleep thinking long and hard just how he could help Roxas. If he did, Sora was certain that it would help his brother and then reverse their current situation.


	3. Tweaked Tuesday

_hoshiko's notes_: Thank you to everyone for your wonderful reviews and favorites. They really make me smile. Sorry this wasn't up last week. My excuse is the same as how I said it was in Heartbeat; I work at a toy store.  
No beta again. Sorry in advance for anything that seems grammatically incorrect.  
Happy turkey day to everyone.  
Oh yeah, and they may not know it, but this is dedicated to the.israel.project who inspired me to finish this chapter. I was too lazy...

* * *

_Tweaked Tuesday_

The first thing Sora had felt in the morning when he woke up was that his brother's body completely ached all over. Groaning loudly as he tried to sit up, the twin wondered just why Roxas was so out of shape. P.E. the previous day had not gone well when Sora started to run, only to soon find himself out of breath. He almost fell over gasping for air by the time he had gone one lap around the track for their daily mile run. Hayner, instead of helping him, had just laughed and mocked at him. Roxas must like the tough love, Sora thought to himself.

There was a loud rap on Sora's bedroom door. Fearing it was his mother, the boy didn't stir.

"Open up, it's me," came Sora's own voice. The boy quickly got out of his bed to let his twin in.

"What's up?" Sora asked.

"Could you not put me in a trash can today?" Roxas asked while patting down the boy's hair. It soon proved useless and he just gave up with an aggravated sigh. "And can't I do _anything_ to make this hair just a little bit more workable?"

Sora chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry, but it's been that way since we were kids. You know that. I got stuck with dad's messy hair and you got mom's semi-messy hair."

"My hair isn't semi-messy," Roxas said with a sharp glare to his twin. "I just never do anything with it."

Sora rolled his eyes. He brushed past Roxas to go to his room where he could change into his acceptable outfit. "Well neither do I. That's what you're stuck with, so deal with it."

Roxas whined loudly as he slumped up against the doorframe. He made sure to watch Sora's choice of clothes. It was apparent that the boy hadn't slept much. His twin noticed this right away with much anger, but also apprehension. Why was his brother not sleeping well? Was there something going on his side of the spectrum that Sora didn't know about? Maybe yesterday's little accident really _had_ gotten to him. Instead of calling his brother out on his lack of sleep, the boy voiced his concern.

"You okay, Roxas? It doesn't look like you slept much last night," Sora said gently. He hoped that his calm and sweet words wouldn't rile his brother so early in the morning.

Roxas yawned widely. "Yeah…I just couldn't sleep, that's all. A lot is on my mind."

Happy to have a normal and calm conversation with his brother for once, Sora decided to pursue this topic. Maybe he'd uncover something and help Roxas out.

"Wanna talk about it?" Sora asked, trying not to sound pushy at all, but rather still concerned.

Roxas shook his head and pointed at the closet. "No, it's fine. Just go ahead and get dressed. I'm going to go grab a bite to eat."

"All right," Sora said. He watched as Roxas began to head down the stairs. Something in his heart called out to his brother. Without warning, he blurted out. "I'm here for you, Roxas. You know that right? You can always come and talk to me."

Roxas stopped on the stairs. He desperately wanted to turn around and snap at his brother for his poor choice of words. His mind raced with all the vicious things he could say, all the horrible memories that popped up with that sweet sentence. His heart, however, beat faster knowing that Sora had just said something profoundly true to himself. There was no way Roxas could beat him down for wanting to say something his brother thought was so sincere. Instead, the boy remained quiet, but nodded his head in acknowledgement. He continued his descent, leaving his twin with a happy feeling.

Maybe things were slowly improving between the two. So far, two amazing things had happened that morning. They both had a normal conversation, and Roxas had yet to snap at Sora. Their luck couldn't last this long, could it? Or was today the day where they'd break the curse set upon them?

All these thoughts raced wildly in Sora's head. He became even more excited for the day ahead of him, hoping that the light was close at hand. However, his heart knew otherwise. Their luck could not last. Outside influence would come into play and someone would slip to say something stupid. Then, that darkness would return with a vengeance.

It kept Sora happy, as he put on the façade of a brooding teenager having a bad case of angst, but also kept him on edge. He knew something bad would come down; he could feel it. Briefly, he wondered if Roxas could feel it too. If that was the case, his brother sure was good at hiding it. His eyes remained blank as he put on that fake smile. The day may have started out smoothly, but it was only eight in the morning.

Ironically, it was Sora who slipped. He was walking with Roxas to school when Riku showed up. The older teen thought it would be a good idea to surprise his best friend and walk with him to school.

"Hey Sora," Riku said happily. He was looking right at Sora's body and expecting Sora to answer, but what he got instead was Roxas' voice and Roxas' excited smile.

"Hi there Riku!" Sora exclaimed, forgetting his place.

The two boys looked at him in surprise. Riku, caught off guard, didn't know how to react to such a happy looking Roxas. Maybe the planets were aligned today making the twin act so strange? Yeah, he'd blame it on that. But the _real_ Roxas wasn't going to push that aside so easily. While he may have looked surprised, he was truly filled with anger at the stupidity his brother had just shown. Wasn't he the one that had walked on eggshells to not mess up? It's funny because despite his gentleness in the matter, he was the one with two mistakes chalked up on the board.

"Er…hi Roxas," Riku said uneasily. He looked at the boy with an eyebrow raised. "What's got you so happy today?"

Sora coughed as he lowered his voice. He must have also forgotten that his voice was no longer his, but rather Roxas'. Now it just sounded like he was trying to be a deep voiced, angst ridden teenager. "Oh, nothing. I just… Never mind."

There was a noise escaping Riku that sounded an awful lot like restrained laughter. He shook his head while his body shook slightly from the effort to not laugh. "What happened to you today, Roxas? Did you and Sora switch bodies or something?"

Sora started to fear the worst, but in a blaze of pure genius, Roxas actually began to laugh. He let it all out with a very loud cackle. It sort of scared Sora and Riku alike. They looked at the boy in surprise as well. Poor Riku; he couldn't take much more of all this. He was looking back and forth at the two. It take him very long to figure that something was off with the two, but just now, it had all been confirmed.

"All right, stop," Riku said. "What's _really_ going on here?"

"Huh?" both boys asked in unison. Their hearts jumped up into each other's throats. Both assumed the worst, but didn't make to move or look as if they knew this.

"What happened with you two?" Riku asked. "Something's different…"

Sora looked down at his clothes, thinking that maybe he had dressed wrong. Roxas rolled his eyes. Riku saw this and knew instantly that they weren't the same people anymore. He wasn't sure how, but he could tell. Maybe it was just the day, but yesterday was off too. First Roxas had actually approached the group to confront them on their actions, get tossed into a trash can, and then run happily to see his twin. That, in itself, should have tipped him off that something wasn't right. Also, Sora was not his usual chipper self. It was obvious that almost everything was forced. The twins were never good at lying.

"How so?" Sora asked. "Everything seems fine to me."

"Yeah," Roxas laughed. He smiled at Riku. "What do you think is wrong?"

"You two are acting like the other," Riku replied with hesitation. He saw the boys glance at one another. He sighed tiredly. "Come on, tell me what's up. Is this some sort of joke?"

Roxas exhaled deeply. "Damnit… Roxas, he caught us."

Sora kicked at the ground. "Yeah. I was hoping it would take him longer."

Riku smirked and crossed his arms. "You thought you could trick me, is that it?"

"Well, we really wanted to see if we switched places and see how long it would take for someone to notice the change," Roxas explained as he put his hands in his pockets. It was the typical stance he normally took when he was comfortable.

"You went for almost over two days," Riku said. "But you both really sucked at it."

Sora blinked in surprise. He scratched the back of his head. "We do? How so?"

Riku pointed at Sora first. "Well, you just can't make it as Roxas. You're too happy. Yesterday showed it all when you came running. And Sora, I can't believe you _really_ got stuffed into a trash can."

Sora started to laugh loudly. "Thanks a lot Riku!"

Riku then looked at Roxas. "And you can't force happiness, Roxas. It just doesn't suit the kind of guy Sora is."

Roxas noticed that Sora's face was starting to get a little red around the edges, but he brushed it off. Sighing, the boy turned back towards his house. "Well then, I guess Sora and I should go wash our hair out."

"I can't believe you got your hair to spike up like Sora's," Riku laughed. He playfully tugged on Roxas' hair. The boys started laughing as they joked about the other boy's messy style. "You did such a good job! I can hardly see the dye!"

Sora felt his eye twitch a few times as his heart beat hard in his chest. There was an uncomfortable sensation growing deep in his stomach that resembled nausea and, what seemed to be, a sense of light headedness. The boy was worried that maybe he had gotten something. That wouldn't go over well with Roxas.

The boy intervened, grabbing Roxas' arm tightly. He smiled cheerily at Riku causing the boy to step back a bit. He wasn't used to such a happy expression on the normally upset teenager. "Well, we should get to cleaning off the hair dye before we're late for school! We'll be right back!"

Riku nodded. He leaned up against the white fence with his arms crossed. There was an amused smile across his face; he was obviously enjoying himself very much. "All right. Don't be too long."

The twins ran back to their house. Once inside the door, Roxas slammed Sora into the wall. He pressed his face very close to his brother with rage fueling his every motion.

"You _stupid son of a bitch_!" Roxas snarled. "You almost fucked _everything_ up! You're lucky that Riku's stupid too and didn't understand what _really_ happened."

Sora kicked his brother in the shin, freeing himself. He pushed Roxas back harshly. "Don't call Riku stupid! And I'm _sorry_ if I said hi to my best friend a little too energetically! At least we played it off like a joke!"

Roxas turned away in a huff. "Whatever."

There were a few moments of silence. Each one where counting down how much longer they would stay in to throw Riku off about the real problem. Sora messed with his shirt, mulling over what exactly he could say to his brother.

"You know…we could just tell him that we're going to keep the joke running," Sora said slowly. "It could make things easier."

"Easier?" Roxas turned around with a look of surprise mixed with anger. "Easy for whom? You or me?"

"Um… both?" Sora smiled nervously.

Roxas shook his head. He grabbed Sora by the head and began to shake him back and forth. "Are you really that stupid?! Hello! He's _your_ best friend! What good would telling _him_ do us?! Namine knows and she didn't give us any help at all!"

Sora stumbled back from Roxas, trying to steady himself. "Namine's helped a lot! You just don't know it. She's told me a lot of things I needed to know."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Oh, like what kind of food I like or what type of music I listen to?"

Sora glared at his brother. "I didn't need Namine to tell me those things, ya know?"

Roxas snorted. "Really? Okay then, tell me what my favorite food is."

"Easy peasy," Sora said with a smug smirk on his face. "That would be sea salt ice cream."

"Lucky guess." Roxas crossed his arms. "What kind of music do I listen to?"

"The…emo kind?" Sora tried. He winced as his twin glared horribly at him. "Well sorry! What kind of stuff do _I_ like? Hm?!"

Roxas sighed and pulled on his backpack. "Whatever, we don't have time for this. Let's go. We're keeping Riku waiting."

Sora's mood darkened instantly. He watched as his brother avoided the question and went, instead, to the door.

"At least…I try to know you…," Sora mumbled sadly.

Roxas stopped and looked back. "What did you say?"

Sora brushed past Roxas angrily. "Never mind… Let's go."

When the boys met up with Riku, the older teen knew they were back to normal. Sora seemed in his usual cheery mood while Roxas was sour as always. It would've been fun, but he knew that something might slip. He couldn't risk saying something that the other twin didn't know.

Thankfully, it wasn't going to happen on Riku's terms. No, instead that fell to Sora's lovely friends. The day had gone so smoothly, too. But it was right then during Biology class that it came down. Roxas was amazed that his brother had actually done the project due way before class, so the boy found himself to be quite bored. Somehow this meant that it was okay for all of the other friends around him to goof off as well. Something, of which, Roxas could not tolerate.

"What took you so long this morning at homeroom?" one girl asked as she laid her head down across Roxas' book.

Roxas fought back the urge to bitch at her. Instead he put on the act of being the annoyed Sora. "My stupid brother kept me back. He had this wild idea to see if anyone would notice we were different."

"What?" The girl sat up and looked at Roxas incredulously. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you two switched places?"

Roxas quickly searched for the right piece to fit into the puzzle of this quickly growing lie. "Er, it was just for today. But Riku found us out too soon, so we switched back."

"Whoa, so you mean, you were blonde for awhile there?" a boy next to Roxas asked. He laughed. "I'd love to see _you_ blonde!"

"Yeah, but you wouldn't be _stupid_ like Roxas," another girl laughed. She had turned her chair to face the clan.

Everyone began to laugh. Roxas forced the best real laugh he could muster without accidentally saying something rude to the cliché. To them, it was just Sora laughing right along with everyone else in all the back talk that they do about his brother; just a normal activity.

But that's what hurt the most. To Sora, putting down his brother behind his back with friends was just an everyday occurrence. He thought nothing of it. And it became more and more apparent of how little his twin cared for him as the friends started bringing up past things the other boy had said.

"How did you get Roxas to not dye his hair black?" a boy laughed. "He's such an emo; you'd think he'd have done it by now."

"Yeah, didn't you say you'd shave his head if he did?!" a girl exclaimed.

Roxas burst out laughing. Okay, that thought did amuse him. If he was bald, that would be the oddest sight imaginable. "Yeah, but then I'd have to kill him for looking so ugly!"

Everyone continued to laugh wildly until the teacher came to scold them. Roxas pretended to be doodling in Sora's notebook, something he was sure his brother did all the time, but fell into a deep trance. He wondered just how frequent this banter really was. He listened to the other friends of his brother's and soon learned that there were many names for him.

Roxas' name varied from the usual names like "faggot" and "queer", but what surprised and hurt the most was knowing that his brother never stood up for him. The boy wasn't sure if Sora started the nicknames or if he participated, but it was evident that he didn't care much for when it was said. His friends acted like it was nothing new. And that was what tore Roxas' heart more than anything.

◊

Sora was walking down the hallway when he felt someone grab onto the back of his hood. Roxas had insisted that he wear a sweat shirt making the twin grimace. The boy _hated_ sweat shirts. They took away all fashion sense, but he had to begrudgingly comply. He got his revenge by forcing his brother to wear a collared shirt.

Back to the event at hand. Sora let out a surprised yelped and stumbled back. He spun around, ready to snap at the culprit, when he was met with deep jade eyes. The boy couldn't help but gulp.

"Hey there blondie," Axel said coolly.

"Hi," Sora replied dryly. He cursed his sudden lack of brains to form anything more than that.

"You're going the wrong way, you know." Axel let go of Sora's hood. He leaned up to his full height, making the boy feel even shorter than he already felt. "It's Tuesday."

"Yeah?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "Don't we study on Thursdays?"

"Yes and on Tuesdays," Axel replied. He crossed his arms. "Come on, you're the one that agreed to the schedule. You should know it."

"I, er, I do!" Sora tried to recover. "It's just that I forgot for a second there."

Axel held a hand over his heart and pretended to be dramatically shot in the chest. "Oh! I'm hurt! How could you _possibly_ forget about me?!"

Sora wasn't sure if Roxas laughed at Axel's little dramatic outburst, but he decided to do so anyways. He'd heard him plenty of times chatting away downstairs, sometimes even flirting with the senior. The twin preferred the older redhead to his brother's current boyfriend anyways.

"Calm down, you nut," Sora said. "Sorry if some things come between us."

Axel laughed, ruffling Sora's hair. "Yeah well, it wouldn't be the first time. That psycho boyfriend of yours has a tendency to do that."

Sora's ears twitched. Was that jealousy and protection he heard? Was Axel really interested? Only time, and a little prodding, would tell.

The two walked down the hallway until they came to the classroom that had been self-proclaimed as the study room. There were other students in the room, busy with their own personal tutors. Sora had never been in this room, not even to find his brother. To be found in here was a direct stab in the reputation as a nerd. How dare students want to do well in school?

"Here's an empty desk," Axel said. He sat down and pulled out the math books.

Sora wasn't really sure what to do next. Roxas may have been bad at math, but that was all relative. He was bad in _his_ math class. The boy was in Pre-Calculus while the other was barely scraping by in Algebra 2. The twin would have to pull a magic trick out of a hat to pull all this off and not make Axel suspicious.

"All right, so did you finish the homework?" Axel asked.

"Er," Sora mumbled, pausing momentarily in his procedure to pull out his own math books.

"The one that was assigned to you on Friday, remember? You had plenty of time to do it over the weekend, didn't you?"

"Funny story about that," Sora laughed nervously. "My brother and I, we, kinda, sorta got into a fight on Sunday and, well… I just never got around to finishing up the work."

Axel's eyes narrowed. "A fight with your brother on _Sunday_?" Sora nodded, even more nervous about what the senior would say next. "Roxas, that happened on Sunday. What happened to Saturday?"

Sora racked his brain, trying to remember what Roxas had done that day. Maybe he had done the homework, but if that was true, then where were the papers? The boys had made sure everything was in order for the next couple of days including all paperwork to take to school. His twin had never mentioned homework for his math class.

"I was…"

"Doing nothing?" Axel offered as a finishing statement. Sora hung his head in shame.

"Sorry, Axel."

The redhead raised a hand and looked away with a sigh. "Save it. We'll just skip it and go onto the next thing."

"Which would be?" Sora asked slowly.

"Your homework for tonight. Nothing better than getting a head start on things, huh?" Axel smiled widely. Sora found that the more the older teen spoke, the more he accepted and liked him. He was a far better candidate for his brother than Hayner.

The oddest aspect of Roxas' relationship with Hayner was that, Sora never knew that boy existed. Not until his brother brought him home one day and introduced him to the family. That was pretty much the same day they all found out the blonde was gay. The boys' mother never flinched, but took the change in sexuality with open arms. While the younger twin wasn't too pleased with the information, what could he say? If it made his brother happy, then he should go for it. But the more he saw Roxas hanging with his boyfriend, the more he saw his mood dampen. While Sora wasn't one to point fingers, the clues _did_ begin to add up after awhile.

Axel, on the other hand, had always managed to bring a smile to Roxas' face when his name came up. And it was evident that this boy was far happier in life. His positive outlook on everything even affected Sora as the study session wore on. The boy found himself to actually be _enjoying_ math.

But that was where the fun ended and the spying began. Sora had a few questions in his head that he'd love for Axel to answer. They were all mainly about whether or not the older teen liked his brother back just as much as he guessed Roxas did about him. No harm in trying, right?

Sora, unfortunately, was so wrapped up in his happy little bubble that Axel had created that he temporarily forgot he was parading around in Roxas' body. Sadly, there was harm in trying.

"You know, we don't have to come in here on Tuesdays," Sora said quietly. He was looking down at his paper intently hoping that his offhanded remark would raise Axel's head in return.

"Well, you wanted to," the boy replied. He hadn't lifted his head from the textbook.

"Yeah, but I think I've changed my mind. It's okay if you come over Tuesdays as well."

Axel lifted his head slightly. "You sure you're okay with that?" Sora nodded, but tried to not act like he was happy about where this was all going. "And you brother?"

Sora knew, in his heart, that if Roxas had started bringing home Axel on Tuesdays, he wouldn't have cared less. Maybe at first because they'd want quiet in the living room and that meant less television time, but he'd get over. So, he used this to answer the question.

"If he does, I don't care. He'll probably be miffed that his precious T.V. has to be off while you're over, but he'll get over it," Sora replied.

Axel shrugged. "All right. If that's what you want, I'm cool with it. I like coming over."

"Really?" Sora asked. He turned the paper over and started on other question. Axel hadn't put his head back down.

"Yeah. I'm hoping to see your room one day," the senior said slyly.

Sora snapped his head up, his eyes just a bit wide. He didn't have to work hard to force his brother's face to redden with blush; it came on its own as he connected with those green eyes. "What?"

Axel leaned back in his seat. He was now locked in. That cocky smile that reminded Sora of Riku splayed across his face. "Sure. I bet it's really cool."

"No, it's really not." Sora began to dip his head back down.

"It's the place you hang out and sleep, it can't be that bad."

Sora stopped. He didn't lift his head, but rather tilted it up to stare at Axel. The blush started to grow. Now, he knew Axel was flirting.

"I have a boyfriend," he whispered.

Axel shrugged. "So what? Doesn't mean I still can't have fun with you. It's fun. I like seeing how red you can get. It's almost become one of my favorite hobbies."

Sora gulped as he stared at the boy in disbelief. Kudos to him for being so suave and still remain untouched by creepiness. "What would…be your first?"

Axel chuckled. He leaned forward, but didn't look at Sora. Rather, his head was tilted back down to look at his textbooks. His voice lowered to a mumble, "That's for a _much_ later and more…_intimate_ time, blondie…"

Sora stiffened his back. He knew Roxas would be acting scared if a boy hit on him; hell if any moving object flirted with him. That was just the way his brother had always been. So instead of going against what he'd normally do and flirt right back, the twin stayed true to his act and pretended to be awkward and unsure.

Apparently, it was the right move as Axel stood up while chuckling. He flipped his books closed and picked up his bag. "I think that's enough for today. I'll see you Thursday, okay?"

The twin knew that Roxas wouldn't open his mouth, so he nodded. Sora, on the other hand, had different plans in store for the two. He'd find some sneaky way to inadvertently bump into Axel tomorrow. How he'd do this and what would happen when he did, he'd figure out tonight. But for now, he walked out of the classroom, gripping his backpack tightly. The redhead was only inches away from him.

Sora desperately wanted to push this quiet almost-affair forward and do the unexpected. Maybe take the senior in his arms, confess his brother's love for him, and make-out with him. But wait, that was gross. In Roxas' body or not, there was no way the twin would kiss another guy. If that was true, then how come he was so hell bent on doing so now?

The acting stopped and the reality of the situation settled in. He had just flirted with a boy and was even riled up about it. At first, it probably was in favor of Roxas, but was it really?

Exit stage left. Sora tore off down the hallway with a quick wave to his brother's friend. He would make it home, safe and sound, and get right to work on drowning out all those thoughts.

But when he got home and checked in on his brother, he knew instantly that such would not be the case. The twin was fuming.

"Hey," Sora said quietly as he entered Roxas' room. "How was…your day?"

Roxas stood up and walked out without a word. Sora winced at the movement and instead of dropping it, he followed his brother downstairs. Their parents weren't home just yet, so this gave them free reign to say whatever without worrying about anyone else.

"I didn't get dunked in the trash today," Sora said happily. "And I did pretty well in the tutoring session with Axel. I, um…asked him to start teaching ya at home on Tuesdays as well."

Roxas spun around. "You what?"

"Well, I just didn't see why you had to be in the geek room." Sora shrugged. "I mean if he comes here on Thursdays, then what's so wrong about him coming here on Tuesdays as well?"

"That's not the point," Roxas growled. "You changed something about _my_ schedule without asking me first?"

Sora threw his hands up in the air. "Sorry? Gee, it's not that big of a deal."

"It is! It's my life!" Roxas snapped. "It's not just changing it or anything. It's the principal of the matter."

Sora blinked twice. He couldn't wrap his mind around what he'd done to have gotten Roxas so angry with him. "What? What did I do wrong, Roxas? I thought this would help and put us back in our bodies eventually."

Roxas' face scrunched up with hatred burning deep in his eyes. Marching towards his brother, it was obvious things were going to get worse. Sora briefly wondered if his twin was going to hit him or not. The straw looked like it had snapped.

"How?!" Roxas cried.

Sora rubbed his arm nervously. "I don't know… I was going to see how it played out. I'm just trying to help you out, that's all."

"By changing things in my life?" Roxas asked bitterly.

"Oh my God, I changed one thing." Sora waved his hands around. "It's the end of the world."

"Wrong, you're trying to change more than that. You're trying to make me popular and shit."

Sora shrugged. "What's wrong with that? I thought it would help you."

"Help me? Help me?!" Roxas exclaimed. He grabbed onto his brother tightly, shaking him firmly. "You _really_ think this will help me?! Do you think that by making me popular that _all_ my problems will go away?! Are you stupid?! There's more to life than what other people think about you!"

"Well I didn't know what else to do!" Sora managed to escape his brother's grasp. He backed away in fear. His twin had never acted this way before. "It just seems like that's the base of your problems."

Roxas shook his head furiously. "My problem is the same as yours."

Sora stuttered over his words. "M-m-mine?"

"Your twin…," Roxas said slowly and with anger. "I hate my twin…just like you hate yours…"

"I do not!" Sora exclaimed.

Roxas got right into his own face, but stared his brother down through his eyes. They connected in a bond of pain and fear. Sora knew that what his twin would say next would shatter their already cracked ground. The glass had been bombarded with insults, jeers, fights, and cold shoulders. It couldn't handle much more.

"I heard about how you _really_ feel about me," Roxas snarled. "Your precious friends laid it all out on the table for me."

"What…do you mean?" Sora asked delicately.

"How you wish I wasn't _gay_ or how you want me to be popular and cool like you!" Roxas had snapped and now his rage slipped down his cheeks. "Your friends revealed what you never tell me. How you feel I'm_such_ an eyesore!"

Sora suddenly found himself pressed against the wall. His heart broke as he watched the guard in his brother finally tumble down. Unfortunately, the price paid for that luxury was far too much for either boy to handle. Both slipped through the cracks of the glass floor as they slowly saw their ultimate destined downfall into darkness.

"Roxas…I…," Sora began, but his brother would not hear of it.

"No, shut up," Roxas snapped. "I've had enough of your bull. Now I know your true colors! They're disgusting! You think _I'm_ bad?! What about you?!"

"What about me?" Sora whispered.

"You're fake!" Roxas shouted. He slammed his hand on his chest. "At least _I'm_ true to myself and am _happy_ with where I'm at! But _you!_" The teen poked Sora hard in the chest. "You go about with all these rules to keep face and make you look so good, but in reality, you have nothing!"

"I do _too_ have something!" Sora exclaimed, but he chose the wrong time to step up. Anytime, really, was a bad time.

"No you don't! If I was hurt or something, _my_ friends would be there for me!" Roxas said.

Sora rolled his eyes and snorted. "Oh yeah, all five of them."

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "It's not quantity, Sora…it's the quality."

"Oh, because your friends smell of lovely roses," Sora said sarcastically.

Careful now, that glass is falling with the twins. If one didn't watch out, they could both end up being sliced more than before. Sora was dangerous close to a very sharp piece as it was. Roxas could easily push it right into his brother.

"Excuse me?" Roxas asked.

"You heard me. Your shit stinks too, ya know." Sora pushed back and felt the need to defend his spot. "You won't even stand up to your stupid boyfriend. He treats you like shit. How can you put with that?"

"At least I have someone," Roxas said sternly.

Sora couldn't back the smirk that escaped his lips. "It's not about quantity, Roxas, it's about quality."

Just like Sora couldn't hold the smile back, the same could be said for when Roxas punched his twin in the face. He didn't care if he just damaged his own face. He was confident that his brother wouldn't retaliate. There was no way he would hurt his precious appearance. However, he assumed wrong.

Sora spun in his heel, socking Roxas in the jaw, and grabbing hold of the boy. Both teens wrestled on the floor, trying to gain dominance over the out of hand argument. Their hearts ached as the glass rained down with every punch, tug, kick, and bite that was dealt. Siblings normally hurt when they fight, but twins were practically the same person. And as close as they two once had been, getting into such a personal and physical feud had landed them here; a place where the pain would kill them.

Before long, the gusto was sucked out. Darkness had settled down in their hearts. The twins glared at one another in pure hatred, neither believing they were related. There they sat on the floor, opposite ends of the living room.

"I'm not the only one who's face," Sora mumbled. He wiped at the blood on his lip. "You are too. You put up a mask to me, Namine, and Axel."

"Axel?" Roxas sat up a bit more. "How does Axel come into this?"

"It's obvious how you feel for him, yet you're scared," Sora said. He began to stand only to wince at the bruise beginning to form in his stomach where Roxas had kicked him. "I think you should give it a shot. I think he likes you."

Roxas ignored the last part of Sora's statement. He rose quickly. "What're you talking about? I'm not scared."

"Why do you put yourself through what Hayner deals you when Axel is right there for you?" Sora asked with a hint of worry to his voice."

"It's none of your business."

"I, uh, think it is. I'm living as you now." Sora crossed his arms. Roxas rolled his eyes away from his brother. He headed upstairs, but the twin followed once again. "You think I don't know what's going on? You think I _like_ hearing you crying in your room when I know you were just on the phone with him? Or that I like seeing you come home looking so miserable? You _honestly_ think that puts a smile on my face as I fall asleep at night?"

Roxas was nearing his room by now. "Hayner understands and accepts me." He pretended to have not heard those meaningful words from his brother.

Sora jumped in front of Roxas' path into the room. He knew if the boy got in there, the argument would end and there was a good chance that nothing would be fixed. "But he insults and uses you! You deserve better!"

Roxas' face filled with anger again. "Like you know what I deserve!" The teen shoved Sora aside, making his way into his room. "Just leave me the hell alone! I'm done pretending to be you."

"What?" Sora's stomach sank.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to be myself again. I want my old life back." Roxas' tone was so nonchalant about the issue that it scared Sora deeply.

The boy clung to Roxas, his eyes wide. "You can't!"

"Why? Because your precious reputation will be ruined?" Roxas smiled sweetly. "Oh, well, I'm so sorry your highness. Will you die if a life you'll no longer have goes to shit?"

"Don't say that!" Sora felt the fear rising in his throat. It started to taste like bile. Roxas' words struck deep as such a scenario was suddenly seared in the boy's mind. "You don't know when we'll go back to normal! Anything you mess up may fuck up my life!"

Roxas finally pushed Sora off of him. "Yes, I do know when we're going back; _never_. Because I'll _never_ do something for you other than ruin your life!"

There was a tense pause as Sora felt his inside quiver. If it wasn't so void of sound, the boy might have missed his brother's words.

"It's not like you haven't done it once to me…"

With a slam of the door, the darkness in Roxas became so thick that Sora saw no hint of light. He was shut tight and no one had the key.


	4. Wacky Wednesday

_hoshiko's note:_ Truly, _truly_, I apologize for my lack of updating these days. Allow me to explain- finals and work. I've also fallen deeply in love and I put a lot of effort into keeping that special person around.  
Sorry for any mistakes I've made in here, grammatical or otherwise. No beta, so yeah. Please review and let me know what I did wrong so I can aim to not repeat my mistake._  
_

* * *

_Wacky Wednesday_

There was a bit of light far down in Roxas' heart. It longed to be set free. Sora knew it was there. He always had a knack for believing in people to the point where he convinced himself he could set them free. The teen had made it his solemn duty to help his brother. No amount of darkness could hold him back now.

So when Sora awoke in the morning, he did not go out of his way to change Roxas' normal routine. He dressed low key punk, messed up his brother's unruly hair, and stuffed the messenger's bag to capacity with books and work. With his emotionless expression etched into his face, he was off to school.

Surprisingly, Roxas hadn't changed Sora's attire or demeanor like he had threatened. Both twins were taken back at the other's actions, but showed nothing of this on their face. Both kept on guard the car ride to school, through the first few classes up past break, and then into lunch. The twins were convinced the other was plotting something.

When Sora saw Hayner and Namine, he never acted any different than normal. A plan began to form in the boy's head. Sometime after school he would talk to Roxas' boyfriend and see if maybe he could find out a way for the boy to loosen up on his brother. Asking the blonde was a bit awkward at first, but he complied with a nod and a shrug, saying it was "no big deal".

During lunch, Sora approached Namine for help. She was Roxas' best friend, so if anyone could help, it was her. Any information that the boy wanted to know that he had somehow missed, she would have it locked away. All it took was a gentle request to unlock all the answers to the confusion.

The blonde girl was drawing when she heard the question. "Did something?" Namine repeated.

"Yeah. Roxas keeps saying something about how I ruined his life in middle school," Sora said. He sat across from Namine at the lunch table. "But I didn't do anything to him. At least…I don't know if I did…"

Namine looked down sadly. Her head bobbed a bit that looked awfully close to a nod. Sora ran his hand through his hair with a loud sigh. A scratching of the notebook made the boy look up. The blonde girl was hastily drawing in her sketchbook.

A few minutes later, a story was drawn across sheets of paper. She turned the sketchbook around so Sora could see her artwork. Namine's artwork was unique to just her. It looked childish, but she had such meaning behind her little drabbles. Anyone that saw it could see such a deep significance to the scribbles.

The first picture was of a young Sora and Roxas standing together. They were holding hands while facing school, prepared to take on education together. Namine flipped the sheet to show a picture of the twins surrounded by other kids. The blonde looked a bit scared as he hid behind the smiling brunette. It was obvious who was more accepted by the children.

Namine turned the page again. Sora was leaving Roxas behind to hang with the other children. The blonde was sad and stood alone in the background while his brother had a cheery glow around him. An unsettling aura of darkness was settling down around the aloof child.

Finally, the last picture was revealed. Sora gulped back some tears that the drawing brought forth. The illustration was reminiscent of the first page. This time, however, Roxas stood alone. The young brunette was heading into school with other children. No one bothered to look back at the forgotten boy.

Sora was crushed. He hadn't realized that his sudden boost into popularity had created the drift between the two. It was obvious now that such was the case, but the boy had never put two and two together. The twin felt bad, but it was mainly because he felt guilty for making his own brother, the one he adored and grew up with, go through so much alone knowing that his own sibling was more loved than him.

Sora's happiness had created Roxas' sadness.

"Perhaps now you know what to do to fix Roxas' problems," Namine said softly. Her voice was filled with such sorrow that Sora thought he had hurt her too.

"I thought I was doing the right thing," Sora whispered. He clenched his fists tightly. His mind had flown back to the night before.

All Roxas had said was making sense now. Sora thought it was because of Monday, but it was so much more. The teen instantly blamed himself for everything from middle school, to Roxas becoming gay, to the switch in their bodies, and now everything that had shattered between them. If there was any hope, it was lost now. Four years too late; no apology could make them become best buddies again. No wonder his twin had such deep rooted despise for him.

"Were you really?" Namine asked. "Did you really think making Roxas popular that it would salvage your relationship with him? And that it was a selfless act of kindness? A _real_ one?"

Sora didn't know what to think of. All his plans to reverse their current predicament had become a moot point by now. The most important matter to pay attention to was how to apologize to his brother. Though, the boy knew that Roxas wouldn't accept it. Nothing could erase all those memories or somehow make the pain lesson. Their connection was severed thanks to the falling glass that rained on them last night.

The bell rang just then, jarring Sora from his thoughts. Namine looked at him sadly. She reached her hand out to his.

"I'm sorry," the blonde whispered. "Is there anything I can do?"

Sora smiled brightly; a little too happy for Roxas. But it didn't matter. He wanted to make Namine feel better. She had only complied with his request to know more about why his brother was always so angry with him. "No, it's okay. I caused all of this, so I'll fix it. You've done more than enough for me, Namine. Thank you so much."

Sora pet the pale girl's hand, then got up to leave. Through his next few classes, the teen tried his hand at writing apology notes or even come close to thinking of an explanation for what had happened so long ago. Time was short, though. There was still a meeting with Hayner after school.

By the time three rolled around, Sora had come up empty handed as to what he could do. Even though he initially had asked his brother's boyfriend to meet him, as time passed on, he had forgotten why. What would he say now? He could easily lie or not even show up, but that could come back around to bite Roxas in the butt. More anger and pain that the older brother had caused the younger one.

Sora no longer wanted to walk on the glass shards. He'd do anything for his brother. The sad thing was he knew Roxas wouldn't ever feel the same. It was more likely he'd go out of his way to ruin his twin's life rather than help him. The boy still thought of the times they had spent together, the personal jokes they had, the late night conversations, the secret language they created so only they could communicate. Deep down, he knew those days were gone, but he would gladly chose that over his reputation any day.

And Roxas, he felt, could care less about those precious memories.

◊

Roxas was currently trying not to ruin his brother's grades. Sora was so much more athletic than he would ever be. The past few days had worn out the teen all because of the P.E. class, hence why his mood was so foul at the end of the day. It's not that the boy had it in for his brother from the get go, but rather, he just didn't want to deal with the problems he brought.

Now, he was forced to deal with not only his problems, but his brother's as well. It was really starting to rub him raw. If he smoked, Roxas would be going through nicotine with drawl right now. It was more like he was going through boyfriend with drawl. And seeing Riku being so nice to him all the time wasn't helping either. Oddly enough, he was really starting to miss Axel as well. Sora's best friend was so nice to him that it was as close to being with the senior as possible. The boy envied his brother even more for having such a dear friend. The worst part of it was, Riku had once been his friend too. His twin wasn't the only thing Roxas lost in middle school.

The boy collapsed after running his mandatory mile. Normally he walked with Hayner, but Sora had demanded that his good mile time by kept in tact. Roxas was amazed that he wasn't too tired, though. His twin's body was fit enough to keep the boy from gasping for air. It shouldn't have been such a shock since he and Riku had always worked out and play fought since they were children. It was a normal sight to see the two friends fighting on the beach with wooden swords. Silently, Roxas deeply wished to join them.

"You all right?" Riku asked as he came up beside Roxas. He sat down next to him.

"Yeah…," Roxas mumbled. He had lied again. Last night's argument was still lodged in his memory. It had really become a burden to his normal routine and how he could keep acting like it was normal.

"You and Roxas still having problems?" Riku asked, concerned.

Roxas nodded. "I'm so done with it all… It's making me sick."

Riku rubbed the back of Roxas' back. "So you're giving up on your plan?"

"Plan?" Roxas looked over at the older boy. "What plan?"

"The one you were so gung ho about back on Monday," Riku said. He leaned back on his hands. "How you wanted to help Roxas more than anything because you missed him."

Roxas' face showed utter confusion. Riku laughed once he saw this. He ruffled the boy's messy hair.

"Your memory really is going to shit, isn't it?" Riku joked. "You told me you missed how close you two once were and all the fun you had. I remember when it was us three; sometimes Kairi would be there too."

Roxas' eyes widened. "When did I say this…?"

"I told you," Riku said. He stood up, dusting his sweats off. "Back on Monday. Online, remember? You had this plan to talk to Roxas' boyfriend to make things better and to also fix up whatever happened in middle school."

Roxas grew worried. "Hayner?! He's-I mean- _I'm_ going to talk to Hayner?!"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. It's what you said."

Burying his head in his hands, Roxas mumbled, "I'm going to kill him…"

"Huh?"

Roxas' hands flew up and he laughed. "Oh, nothing!"

Riku held his hand out. Roxas took it and was helped up. He flew up into the older boy's arms where he found himself being embraced in such gentleness it surprised him. Riku moved his mouth to the boy's ear.

"Don't give up, Sora…," Riku whispered.

He made Roxas shiver. Had the older teen always been this way with his brother? If so, when did it start? He certainly was never this nice when they were kids. Sure Sora was joined to the hip with Riku, but did that mean it had created some sort of deep and romantic bond had been created between the two?

Roxas looked up at Riku. He couldn't stop himself. His mouth opened and the foot went in. "Do you like me, Riku?"

The older teen tensed up at the question. He looked down at Roxas with huge eyes. It was evident that he wanted to say something, but words escaped him. He still hadn't released his friend. Slowly, his face filled with blood and he had to avert his eyes.

"You sure say some stupid stuff," Riku mumbled.

Roxas had no desire to be with Riku, but an idea shot into his head. Here, Sora's best friend had the hots for him. The twin could safely assume that his brother felt the same way by the tale tell signs of how the twin's body was reacting. Normally, his older brother would run away and hide from the situation, but Roxas was in the perfect spot to take advantage. He would have no regret in doing anything his brother would be against.

As much as Roxas hated his brother, he still loved him. Hearing Riku say that Sora had tried earlier in the week made the boy regret his words. He started thinking that perhaps his twin really was brain less about his actions when he was younger. Maybe, he really didn't realize how his rise in popularity had affected his twin.

Suddenly, Roxas wanted to talk to Riku. He wanted to ask him questions about his brother and possibly learn what he did wrong. The first step, however, was to see where this little love affair was going.

"Yeah, sorry," Roxas said with a smile. Riku slowly released him with a nervous cough. "I just, yeah, um, heh…"

Riku stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm not like your brother."

"Yeah," Roxas said, giggling. He knew how to make his brother sound nervous. It was the complete opposite of how he would react to the situation. Normally, he'd grow quiet and almost mean. Sora, on the other hand, would become giggly and loud.

"But," Riku said suddenly. "What would you say…or do…it one of your friends…was gay?"

Roxas had to think carefully. He knew what Riku was alluding to. Too enthusiastic a response would make Sora sound a little too eager and might push the older teen away. However, too casual a reply would seem as if the boy didn't like the idea, but was merely agreeing to make his friend happy.

"I wouldn't really mind," Roxas said carefully. "I mean, my brother is homosexual, so what would I care if someone else I knew was?"

"Even if they were close to you?" Riku asked, looking up at the sky.

Roxas nodded, playing with the hem of his shirt. "I don't care what someone does with their life. It's their life and I have no say in it."

Riku smiled a little bit at Roxas. "Ah, okay."

Roxas smiled back. He cocked his head to the side, faking confusion and curiosity like he knew his brother would do. "Why do you ask? Do you know someone who is?"

Riku's smile faded a bit, but he quickly recovered. "Yeah. Known him for a few years."

"Oh?" Roxas pretended to be interested now. "Who's it? Do I know them?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, you do. They're a friend of ours."

"Aw, that's cute." Roxas laughed cutely.

As the teacher whistled the class over, Riku bent down to whisper in Roxas' ear. "And they like you…a lot."

Roxas felt his face grow hot. He stepped back to look at the older teen only to see Riku laugh and run away. The boy couldn't help the smile that snaked its way onto his face. The suspicions were just confirmed. And better yet, he now knew a perfect way to switch back his brother and him into their original bodies.

Sora had never been even remotely close to a relationship in his entire life. There were plenty of girls that had confessed to him, but he kindly shot them down. Roxas was astonished when his twin turned down Kairi. Even he thought they would go out, but such was not the case. It was around that time that the blonde had suspected that maybe he wasn't the only one in the family that might like boys.

Sora _was_ his twin, after all. They might share more than one thing.

◊

At that moment, however, Sora only shared one thing with his brother; this undeniable admiration for Axel. The red head had proven to be a real sweet heart. The boy was making his way through the hallways, rubbing his temples as he was forming a headache. All the guilt and frustration of what to say to Roxas and to Hayner were starting to make the teen ill. When the senior had seen from afar his younger friend nursing such a migraine, he quickly approached him.

"Hey there, blondie. You okay?" Axel asked as he stopped next to the shorter teen.

"Yeah…I'm on my way to see Hayner. I need to talk to him," Sora replied. He looked down at his feet. There was no play acting here; he really was in a bad mood.

"Uh oh. Boyfriend problems?" Axel did his best to hide his happiness at the sound of this.

"Something like that... He's just really been bothering me this whole week…actually for awhile now." Sora rubbed his shoulder. "I just wanna have a talk with him and see if there's anything I can to make him stop picking on me."

Axel's eyebrows furrowed. "He's been picking on you?"

Sora rubbed his arm nervously while looking down. "Kind of… yeah. I dunno. He just hasn't been nice to me for a long time. It's starting to get to me."

Axel sighed, running his hand through his hair. He then smirked at Sora. "You're smart, Roxas."

"Huh?" Sora looked up at the senior. "How so?"

"Most kids our age just ignore the fact that they're being mistreated with their significant other, but really they're just in denial because they don't want to get hurt." Axel stood up straight, his hand on Sora's shoulder. "But I'm impressed that you're able to step back. You can't live life thinking that you'll always be one hundred percent safe. There's bound to be pain in your life and the worst will almost always come from those closest to you."

Sora stared in awe at the boy. That was when it clicked. He was the answer. Axel could make his brother happy. The twin approved and it was always so obvious that his brother had some feelings for the older teen. If he could somehow hook the two up, he was certain that it would be the most unselfish act he could muster. Get his brother out of a crappy relationship and get him into a stable one with the redhead. Yeah, that's number one on the chart of how to fix the boy's problems in his life.

"Thanks, Axel," Sora said, unable to hide his smile from the senior. "Could you…walk with me to see my boyfriend? You don't have to stay, but I'd like some company on the way."

Axel's smile couldn't be more encouraging. Sora felt his spirits lift just by seeing those teeth flash at him. "Sure thing, Roxas. I don't mind at all. And if you need me to stay, I'll hang around a little longer too. I know how these things go."

"How many boyfriends have you had?" Sora asked as they started down the hall. He tried to sound just curious and not invasive. One wrong turn could ruin his chances to help his brother.

Axel tilted his head back, "Well, let me see…"

"You've had that many?!" Sora squeaked. He caught himself knowing that such a reaction was far off base from Roxas' own response.

Axel laughed hard, only able to cling to a wall to keep himself balanced. "Well now! You really think I'm that big a pimp?! Really Roxas, have a heart here. I was just going to say my last relationship lasted about two years or so. But other than that, I've never really had any one else."

Sora nodded, his hopes starting to fill. Somewhere along the line, he could sneak in a question that would possibly get Axel's hopes up, making him think the boy was interested. All he'd need to do then was set them up on a date and get back in his body. However, if things didn't work out, he'd be willing to go on a date with the senior for his brother. Anything to get him past his current situation.

Suddenly, Sora remembered he still hadn't come up with anything to talk to Hayner about. He turned the corner, completely unconfident about the upcoming argument he was going to try and make. The only sure thing he had on his mind was Axel at his back.

A scenario began to play out in he boy's head. Things would escalate between Hayner and him. Maybe a verbal fight would ensure. Axel would charge in to save the day allowing Sora the freedom to act like the grateful and heartbroken homo in distress. From there, the twin would be A-okay to switch tracks to the redhead. All he'd have to do was somehow convince Roxas that the senior was better for him in all aspects. Piece of cake, right?

Unfortunately, the pumping up Sora had done for his nerves shattered in an instant. In all his abstract thoughts of Hayner, never once had the idea of cheating entered his train of thought. Such a horribly awful thought hurt too deeply to even consider. How could the boy think that some guy was cheating on his own brother? But there was all the proof right there as the blonde was lip locked with some unfamiliar girl.

She had brown hair that came in front of her shoulders ending just a little above her chest in cute little waves. She wore a uniform, instantly showing she was not from this school. Sora knew that she wasn't a friend of Roxas as he had never seen or heard of her from the boy before.

Axel was still with Sora. He had seen the same site. His eyes flipped to the boy before him and his hands tentatively reached for him. But there was no time for that sweet comfort. Instead, the senior had to stand back as he watched all the rage pour out from the younger teen.

Sora was absolutely furious. For lack of a less cliché word, the straw on his back had been broken. Here Roxas was, putting himself out in the open for Hayner to touch his heart, he gave all his trust to him, looked past the abuse, and still love his boyfriend only to have it come to this. Where did that blonde get off? How dare he treat his twin so poorly and then cheat on him.

The mask was off.

The girl saw Sora approaching. Her bright green eyes lit up with surprise and then confusion. Okay, so she didn't know what was really going; that means all the blame was allowed to fall on Hayner. Said boy turned around. At first he almost looked shocked, but he must have been unafraid as he clearly missed the rage in the threatening boy's eyes.

"Oh, hey Roxas," Hayner started. He tried to play it off that nothing had happened, hoping that his boyfriend hadn't seen their little affair. "You're early."

"I think I'm right on time" Sora reeled his fist back and then punched Hayner square in the jaw.

The girl screamed, jumping back with her hands over her face. "What did you do that for?!"

Sora ignored her, bending down so he could pull Hayner up only to sock him again. In the distance, shouts and exclamations of a fight breaking out could be heard. It was all lost in a rush. Emotions flowed out with every punch. Amazingly, the blonde never fought back.

"How could you?!" Sora shouted. His anger was making him cry. "I trusted you! I looked over how mean you are and how you put me down! What the hell did I do to deserve this?!"

"Roxas!" Axel cried. His voice managed to break through to Sora's conscience. The older teen's hand grabbed his younger friend's assault. But it was only the punching that sopped. Now came the kicking.

"Stop! Stop!" the girl cried repeatedly.

Sora turned his anger to her now. "Run while you can. He's my boyfriend. Or _was_!" The girl gasped, looking down at Hayner in alarm. "Don't believe anything he says! He's a verbally abusive asshole!"

"What's going on here?!"

Sora looked up, noticing for the first time that there was a mob of people that had surrounded them. That was when another Sora had pushed his way into the crowd. Roxas first looked at his twin, then at Hayner, and finally settled on Axel. Riku popped up next to the boy. His eyes flashed to the brunette next to him, his hands following suit of what Axel originally had in mind.

Then, another mask fell.

Roxas took a deep breathe, moved his leg back towards Riku, and then kicked Hayner hard in the side. Everyone moved away in fear. They had just witnessed two of the most passive and least abusive people attack the same guy in less than five minutes. Who's to say they wouldn't attack them now?

"That was for my brother!" Roxas screamed like never before, his voice cracking slightly.

The twins locked eyes. They could finally see their faces. It was the first fresh sign of light since middle school. Both boys could now say it felt wonderful.

◊

"What do I do?" Roxas cried. He may have kicked Hayner, but his pain still lingered. "I can't believe I just…!"

"I know…," Sora mumbled rubbing his brother's back. The two siblings sat in the bathroom, trying to compose themselves. There where two sexy single, potentially interested guys waiting for them outside. The older teen had sat his brother down on the toilet, glad to know they were at their own home instead of back at the school. He was now down on one knee, comforting his heartbroken younger brother.

"And I!"

"I know…"

"But he!"

"No no…"

"So why did?!"

"I don't know…"

"I hate him…"

"I know. Me too."

"See?! This is why I'm so closed up…," Roxas sniffled.

"I know," Sora repeated. He wiped at his brother's face. "I can see it all now… And it's my fault…"

Roxas shook his head. "It was my fault too. I just blamed you…"

"How is any of the past few years any of your fault?" Sora pulled Roxas into a gentle hug.

"Look on your side, I can see what kind of friends I could have had if I tried," Roxas replied.

Sora pulled back to look at Roxas. "You mean those jerks I thought where my friends?"

"No," Roxas chuckled a bit. "No, I meant like Riku and Kairi. They're real friends. I missed them from when we were kids."

Sora sighed, suddenly missing his two friends; Riku more than anything. Seeing him at the fight had almost pained him. "Yeah, I know, but you have true friends too. You just don't see it."

Roxas looked his twin in the eye, and then smiled. "Yeah, Namine's always been there for me."

Sora nodded. "And Axel."

Roxas' face went red. "Axel?"

"Yeah, he's been really sweet and helpful." Sora playfully punched Roxas. "You dog, you! How'd you get a tutor like that?"

Roxas pretended to be blowing his nose. He dodged the question with ease. Instead, the blonde turned back into a sour state. With a dramatic sigh, he turned into a sobbing mess again. Sora quickly forgot his little playful push to make his twin possibly go out with Axel.

"I can't put myself out there again… Not so soon," Roxas cried.

"Yeah, but Axel's not that kind of guy," Sora pressed.

"How do you know if I can trust him?" Roxas mumbled. He buried his hands in his hair.

"You never know until you try!" Sora smiled widely as he spread his arms out. "C'mon bro, you can do it if you try! I know you can!"

A rare occurrence happened; Roxas smiled. Sora knew it was true as he saw his twin's eyes shine of a happiness that seemed gone forever. They boy knew his brother better. No matter how many fights there were, nights full of tears, resentful thoughts, and hate filled emotions came between them, they were still brothers; twins. And just as Sora had known all along, there was a light in Roxas' heart.

"It's nice to hear you call me bro again," Roxas said.

Sora chuckled. "It's nice seeing you smile. If you do it more often, I'll call you bro more."

Roxas nodded, his smile widening. "And I'll call you snuggly boo again."

"I don't think so," Sora said flatly. He soon laughed, Roxas' own laugh joining his.

It felt so free and relaxed. Finally. After six years.

However, they weren't clear just yet. Their bodies were still off kilter.

"Why do you think I can do it?" Roxas asked, standing from his spot on the toilet.

Sora rose as well, happy to stretch out his legs. He shook them lightly to wake them back up from the lack of blood. "Because I've walked way more than a mile in your shoes. I know you've faced worse. And besides." The boy slung an arm around his twin's shoulder. "I'm here for you."

Roxas smiled. "And if I was smart…I'd have known you always had been."

◊

The twins eventually rejoined their two friends out in the living room. It seemed they had been having a small and light conversation; probably about what had happened before things got out of hand. Sora met Riku's eyes, a pain suddenly shooting through his entire body. He desperately wanted to run to his best friend, plop himself in his lap, and reiterate every single event that had happened to him in the past three days. However, if he did that with Roxas' body, it would throw everyone off.

Instead, Sora had to sit acting like he was truly broken up about his breakup. That couldn't be further from the truth, though, so it was a bit hard for the teen to platy it off that he was upset. Roxas had told him to just cling to Axel since he was still supposed to be uncomfortable around Riku. Over time, they would transition the silver haired boy back into Roxas' life to make it seem like their friendship just simply came back to life.

"How ya doing?" Axel asked gently. He looked genuinely worried for Roxas.

Sora sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I'm ok… I'll manage…"

Before they had left the bathroom, Roxas had told Sora exactly the kind of lingo he'd use in this situation. But neither boy really fretted too much over the matter since they had never been in this type of position, so they doubted one of the boys would call them on anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

"You're lucky you have such a nice brother here to take care of you," Riku said, nodding at Sora. Roxas had to beam.

"Yeah, I am…," Sora mumbled while looking away from Roxas. He had to pretend to be humbled by the experience. It didn't take much since the twins truly had been touched by what had happened lately. "But…I still don't know how to get over all this pain…"

Axel placed his hand gently on Sora's shoulder. "Don't tell me you blame yourself for this."

Sora looked through his fingers at Roxas. He saw the twin make the smallest of nods. That twisted up his gut, making the boy cringe for his brother. How could he blame himself for Hayner cheating on him? He was one of the best boyfriends a guy could ask for. However, the boy was at a loss for how to tell his brother that in such words that he'd understand.

"You really shouldn't, Roxas," Axel said. "It's his fault. He kept you around to make himself feel better when all along he was the weak one. If anything, you're the strongest guy I've ever met in my life for sitting through all his bull shit and all that pain you told me about."

Roxas' mouth dropped open. He quickly hid it by yawning instead. Riku nodded next to the boy. "Axel's right. Sora's told me so many times how he sees you getting put down by Hayner. You deserve better than that."

Sora bit back a smile seeing that Riku was still such a kind friend to protect Roxas even when they haven't spoken for so long. It made his heart flutter a bit, especially as he watched his best friend give his body a quick look over. His eyes betrayed him as they flashed to hinting at something more. Had he always looked at him that fondly?

"If he wants to give up such a sweet and kind boy like you," Axel continued. "Then it's really his loss. But listen to me when I say you're really better off without him. Now you can see there are better people out there, people who won't put you down for helping them or being nice to them. You're such a good friend, Roxas, and I hate to see you beating yourself up over this. That guy's not worth your time."

Roxas was staring hard at Axel. Sora could see a twinge of jealousy flash in Riku's eyes, so he mimicked his twin's movements. He pretended to be full of shock and awe over the senior's inspiring words, but really he had predicted such a thing would happen. It wasn't the first time the redhead had said such heart warming words to his brother; it was just this was the first time that Roxas had listened to him.

This was exactly what Sora was getting at.

Axel suddenly felt a bit nervous looking at Sora. "Er…I'm not saying like…you have to jump back out there right away. But I thought you should know that…there are guys out there that can treat you right."

Sora nodded, pretending to be blushing. He looked away only noticing that Roxas was half glaring at his twin with his eyes. Jealousy had already started to form. Perfect. Now he could push his brother to go out with Axel even more. At the same time he saw the glare, he also noticed that Riku was looking at him again. Not him in Roxas' body, but his own body.

It made him feel so light and happy, but at the same time, disturbed. Should he feel so happy knowing that his best friend was staring at him the same way Axel was to his brother. One thing was for sure; only one person could help him right now. Luckily, it wouldn't take a lot of work to talk to Roxas anymore. The awkwardness was gone and the trust had rekindled. Neither one would let this go again for the rest of their lives.

Now came the question of what would come with the sun tomorrow?


	5. Transformed Thursday

_hoshiko's notes:_ So horribly sorry for the lack of my updates. I've been going through a lot and stuff and yeah, it just sucked. But I'm finally able to get this one out. I hope I'll be able to update the last chapter next Friday. For those who read _Heartbeat_, I'll also try to get that up by Monday.  
Anyways, I hope this makes up for everything. Reviews will let me know. Thanks!_  
_

* * *

_Transformed Thursday_

Roxas woke in the morning with a racing heart. His dreams told of a horrible story, one where Hayner had cheated on him and stole Sora away. It was a horrible feeling to be utterly alone. He knew Hayner had, in fact, cheated on him, but it was so normal to have his brother always there. The twins had found a way to become inseparable, even while loathing one another and then learning to love each other. It was the bond of siblings.

Jumping out of bed, Roxas ran to his brother's room. Without knocking, the boy barged through the door. Sora wasn't in his bed or anywhere else in the area. Roxas began to search quickly around the bedroom in a frenzy hoping his nightmare wasn't real.

"Roxas?"

Said boy spun around. Sora stood in the doorway. His brunette hair was messier than before. He lethargically scratched his leg through his baby blue pajama shorts matching his white tank top. "Are you okay? You look freaked out."

Roxas sighed in relief. "Yeah. I had a nightmare-hey wait."

"What?" Sora asked as he halted his scratching.

Roxas looked at the nearby mirror on Sora's dresser. "We changed back!"

Sora looked as well. His hands flew to his hair. "Whoa! You're right! Perfect! Now I can go o my date!"

"Date?" Roxas echoed. "What date?"

"Axel asked me out last night," Sora said flopping onto his bed. "He's picking me up at six tonight."

Roxas' heart fluttered in fear as his stomach raced in anxiety. "You mean me, right?"

Sora shook his head. "Nope! He asked 'you' to ask 'me' out to dinner. Meaning he asked me!"

Roxas' legs wobbled a bit. "Are you sure he asked Sora and not Roxas?"

Sora shook his head with a yawn. "Nope! He said, 'Roxas can you ask Sora if he'll go out with me tomorrow at six?' "

Roxas' face drained as he saw the impossible unfold before him. He was so sure that Sora liked Riku, not Axel. And yet, here his brother was telling him of his plans to date his crush. It had been a week; maybe he had changed his mind. That was enough time for him to change his mind, right? It happened often in books and there was always that saying, "It takes a minute to fall in love with someone and forever to forget them." Maybe that applied to this situation.

Suddenly, Roxas stopped his train of thought. He didn't like jumping to conclusions anymore; especially since last night he had realized the mistake he made in assuming things about his brother. Instead, he looked at the facts.

First, Axel wouldn't pounce on Sora since no one was even sure if the little fruit was gay or just interested in one guy or not at all. And he wouldn't do it when he knew his brother had just broken up with his long time boyfriend. It just wasn't the guy's style to be that untactful. Also, there was no way his brother would agree to go on a date so soon after seeing Roxas break down in tears. And he was still certain that Sora was fixated only on Riku.

Something was all wrong.

"Okay…I'm waking up now," Roxas said flatly.

Sure enough, the darkness came quickly then thinned into dawn. The grogginess soon flooded Roxas' head as he sat up. Without even looking at his mirror, the boy knew he was still in his brother's body. It just didn't feel like his skin. The twin could handle that, as long as it wasn't his nightmare anymore.

Quietly and slowly this time, Roxas slipped out of his bed to check on his brother. Just a quick peek in his room assured the twin that his Sora's face was still different. The boy sighed in relief.

Apparently Sora was awake because his eyes opened at the sound of Roxas' exhaling. "Roxas? What's up? Why are you up so early?"

Fighting back the urge to fall upon Sora and cry into his arms, Roxas sighed heavily again. He pushed the door open with his knees and entered his brother's bedroom. "I just…had a bad dream, that's all."

"Well if it's bad then tell me it. That way it won't come true," Sora said while sitting up. He pat the seat next to him, silently inviting his twin beside him. "If you tell someone your dream, it'll never come true."

Roxas took the invitation, but scrunched up his face. "Where did you hear that?"

Sora hugged his knees and smiled widely. "Cinderella said so!"

"Are you serious?" Roxas rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the smile that found its way to his lips. "You're how old and still watching kid movies?"

"They're classics, Roxas!" Sora cried.

Roxas held his hands u. "Quiet! We're not supposed to be up for another hour."

"So are you going to tell me your nightmare already?" Sora pushed his face forward.

Roxas waited a bit as he tried to figure out what exactly to say. He didn't want his brother to jump to conclusions about the dream, but he knew it was a lost cause. With love and other matters of the heart, Sora was always quicker than most. As the story unfolded, Roxas knew his twin already had it figured out.

"But I knew you'd never do that," Roxas finished. "So…I woke up."

It was silent. Roxas knew what was coming. He had a conversation similar to this once before with Sora back when he first started liking Hayner. In just a moment, the twin would smile slyly, invade his brother's personal space, tease him for a bit, and then start on a lecture that only Sora could get away with.

And that was exactly what Sora did.

"All right, enough!" Roxas whined, looking away with a red face. "Stop teasing me!"

Sora laughed more. "But it's so cute! I'm so glad you like Axel. He's been so nice to me. I approve of him."

"Thanks," Roxas mumbled as he ducked his head. "I really miss hanging out with him. But you know Riku's been a great guy too. If it wasn't for him this week, I'd have gone insane long ago."

"You like him?" Sora asked warily.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, a lot. He's turned into such a cool guy."

Sora's face moved quickly into his brother's point of view. He looked so childish with his cheeks puffed out and a glare meant to be intimidating. "You stay away from Riku! He's not like that and he'll never like you! I don't want anyone but me with him!"

Sora's hands flew over his mouth, but it was far too late. Now it was Roxas' turn to tease and lecture his brother.

"Aw! I had no idea!" Roxas lied. He laughed sarcastically as he prodded Sora in the side lovingly.

Sora buried himself under his covers with a loud groan of embarrassment. Roxas kept laughing until he heard his brother whimper. He quickly lifted the comforter to see the other boy crying.

"Sora?! What's wrong?" Roxas pulled the blankets over his head too and hugged his brother.

"I'm scared…," Sora whispered, clinging to his twin.

"Of what?"

"Of so many things!" Sora exclaimed, the tears coming faster. "What if he doesn't like me? What will everyone else think? What will happen to me?!"

Roxas smiled gently. "Well that's the risk you gotta take to find your happiness. If he doesn't like you, though I doubt it, then it's for the best. And I'll be here no matter what."

Sora smiled slightly as he wiped his face. "Thanks…" His smile faltered. "Wait, what do you mean you doubt it? What do you doubt? That he likes me?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You're so good with everyone else's romantic problems, but not your own? Really Sora. He's nuts for you. He even asked me what you'd do if one of your friends was homosexual."

Sora's face paled. "Oh man! What did you say?!"

Pretending to be offended, Roxas dramatically put his hand over his heart. "Why Sora! I'm hurt! You make it seem like I said something bad!"

"Just tell me."

"I said you would be fine with it. I mean, I know you are. You've never made fun of me sexuality before and you helped me when I first came out. Do you remember how dad reacted?"

That didn't seem to help Sora at all as he moaned in agony. "Did you have to remind me? That's one more thing I'm scared of is dad's reaction. He's going to hate me! First you come out and say you're gay and now I'll tell him I'm in love with my best friend! He's gonna _love_ us! No grandchildren for him."

"Oh stop being such a drama queen," Roxas chuckled. He loved being so carefree with his brother. It was such a relief to his emotions. "Why do you think dad is never home? It's a good thing. The less he knows the better. You just have to worry about mom, but she won't care. C'mon, it's_mom_."

Sora nodded. "Yeah…you're right…"

"You know…I wish I was like you…," Roxas sighed.

"How so?" Sora asked, looking up at his twin. "I like you just the way you are."

"Thanks." Roxas smiled down at Sora. "But I want to be strong like you are. You're always so true to yourself and happy because you're honest with yourself. I doubt there's a shred of darkness in you."

Sora snorted. He sat up making the blankets around them from the outside look like a child's tent.

"You're wrong there, dear brother. I haven't been honest with myself for a long time."

"How so?" Roxas looked incredulous. "I don't believe you."

"How long did you know you were gay?" Sora asked.

Roxas didn't really have to think about it long. "Since I was a freshman or so. Why?"

"I've liked Riku since I was twelve…," Sora mumbled, not able to look at his brother.

There was a lull before Roxas let out the breath he didn't know he was holding in. "That long…?"

Sora nodded ashamed. He was going to get an ear full. He just knew it.

"Well…at least you're out with it now. But see, that's all the more reason to say you're strong!" Roxas smiled widely. "You held all that in for _that_ long? Wow Sora. Kudos to you. That's a long to like someone and not let on for a very long time. I swear, it wasn't until recently that I noticed."

Sora smiled slightly with a nervous laugh. "Really? I was hoping no one would notice."

"Eh, you slipped now and then but I was much more curious about Riku than I was about you."

"Why? I never see Riku being flirty or anything with me," Sora said.

Roxas shook his head. "He's not really. You two just seem to fit. You can never tell until you sit outside and look in. The way he looks at you and the subtle touches he gives to you. Watch how he looks at you today when we're at lunch."

"Huh?" Sora tilted his head with a confused expression. "Lunch?"

"Have lunch with us," Roxas said, smiling even wider. "And watch us."

Sora thought about it for a minute and soon smiled. "Fine, but I'm bringing Axel. I want you see that he likes you too."

Roxas shook his head quickly, his smile now gone. "No way! There's _no way_ I'd have a shot with him!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "You can't put only me on the spotlight. I want you to see it too. I always saw it when you two studied together. The way he looks at you is something you need to see for yourself."

"Fine, it's a deal."

Roxas held his hand out to which Sora grasped quickly. They shook on it. Today would be an interesting day.

♥

Lunch came too quickly. Roxas rushed over to claim Riku and find a spot. He shot his brother a warning look, but Sora looked away as he searched for Axel. It wasn't hard as he was pretty tall and had bright red hair. He was sitting with a large group of seniors that only a few Sora knew off the top of his head. There were twelve of them all and they were kind of known around school as _the_ group not to mess with. Roxas didn't particularly care. He knew Axel and that's all that mattered to him.

Sora, on the other hand, was a bit nervous approaching the large group. He could easily spot the leader and wondered if he was breaking any rules by asking one of their members to eat with a lowly junior.

"Hey Axel," Sora mumbled.

Axel whipped his head around and smiled brightly. "Roxas! Hey there! How ya feeling today?"

"Better, I guess." Sora thought hard of what he could say to convince the senior to join him for lunch. "Er…do you wanna have lunch with me?"

Axel stared at Sora with wide eyes. "What? Really?"

Sora pretended to be nervous because he asked Axel to eat with him, though it wasn't hard because of his nerves jumping over the fact that now eleven unfamiliar faces had turned towards him. Backing up slowly made them narrow their eyes at the blonde kid before them. Sora cleared his throat and looked down at his feet.

Axel caught on his anxiety and looked back at his friends. "Guys, chill. He's not gonna kill me."

Sora snapped his head up. "What?"

Axel rolled his eyes and looked back at Sora with a sigh. "They're nervous you're going to beat me up like you did Hayner yesterday."

Sora laughed loudly. "Naw, that's only reserved for assholes!"

Laughing right along with him, Axel stood up with his plate in his hands. "All right, then I'm off to get my ass handed to me."

"You're not an asshole. Well you are, but you're the cool kind of asshole, so it's okay," Sora chuckled.

"Ah, I didn't know there were types of assholes." Axel started walking with the younger boy.

Sora nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah! There are many levels of being an asshole."

"And Riku's up on that list," Roxas suddenly said. He laughed as his twin joined his side.

Glancing up at Riku, Sora blushed slightly. "Yeah. He sure is. It's a close tie as to who's first, though."

He's crazy, Sora thought, his heart beating wildly in his chest. There's no way Riku likes me…

The four sat down at a table to start eating. Like he was told to, Sora started watching the antics of the way Riku acted when he was around his best friend. The boy wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but he soon saw that things weren't what they always seemed to him.

Riku liked to touch Roxas a bit too much. It was as if Sora was watching a movie as he saw his best friend touch his body multiple times. He would sneak in small caresses on his hands or a swift brush through the boy's brunette locks. Then came the stares. Sora wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but after awhile he could see the older boy's desire in his eyes as he looked down at his friend.

"Roxas? You okay?" Axel asked. He looked down at the blonde.

"I'm…just a little… I'm okay. Sora? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Roxas had to scramble to catch up with his brother, but even then he was too slow. Sora was racing out of the cafeteria.

"Whoa! Wait up! What's wrong?"

Sora turned on his heel, tears in his eyes. "Are you _serious_?! Has he always done that to me?! Was I just being _stupid_?!"

"Why are you crying?" Roxas asked, looking at his brother confused. "You should be happy now that you know."

Sora shook his head. "He probably thinks I'm not interested by now and if I say that I like him, he'll think I'm joking around. He won't take me seriously."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You give the guy too much credit. If you told him, I think he'd jump on you in a second and call you his own. It's obvious it's what he's been waiting for a long time and I doubt if he was given a chance, he wouldn't snatch you right up."

"You…really think so…?" Sora asked slowly. "I don't know. I'm losing nerve. Every time I see him look at you that way…"

Roxas shook his head. "It's not me he's looking at, it's you. You know that. He has no idea we're switched, so just think it's you he's looking at."

"Okay…"

Once back at the table, Sora couldn't handle watching his best friend look at his brother that way. He knew that, to Riku, it was as if he was looking at Sora with those loving eyes, but it still didn't work for him. The boy wanted to look back the same way and know it was okay this time.

So instead, Sora turned his attention to Axel. He had to show Roxas that there was something going on too.

It was a little while before Sora was certain that his brother's quick glances over were enough to catch on to the situation happening before him. To someone passing by, it would look as if there were two couples sitting at the same table flirting away without a care in the world. That poor innocent bystander had no idea.

"So Axel, are you coming over tomorrow?" Sora asked suddenly flashing a wide smile.

"Why would I?" Axel chugged the rest of his soda before looking back at the blonde next to him.

"To help me study?"

"He would, but I'm going over," Riku said. "Remember? Tomorrow's Friday. It's the day when I always come over to harass Sora."

Roxas laughed as he punched Riku playfully in the arm. "You jerk! I thought we were watching movies."

"Well that too."

Sora was crushed. That was _their_ day. They had been doing that tradition since middle school and now he was going to miss a day. Not unless he had something to do with that.

"Can we join?" Sora asked suddenly. He looked at Axel happily. "How 'bout it? You wanna watch movies with my brother and Riku?"

Axel looked at Riku questionably. "It's not that I don't trust Riku, you're a cool guy and all… But I had plans at my place."

Pouting slightly, Sora thought quickly what to do. He had to find some way to be with Axel. There had to be a way to get Roxas to move past Hayner.

"Well you can still hang out with us, Roxas," Riku suggested. He smiled sweetly at Sora's brother. "I don't mind."

Sora started to blush and quickly looked away. He had felt the eyes of Axel on his face.

"No!" Roxas exclaimed suddenly. Everyone looked over quickly. The boy grabbed his older friend's arm possessively. "That's our night to be together! I don't want anyone else there!"

Sora glared at Roxas. "Hey! He invited me!"

Axel sighed. "I thought you guys were fine."

"We are fine," Roxas said. He looked at his brother in the eyes similar to his. "I just want some _alone time_ with my best _friend_."

Sora caught on amazingly quickly and smiled briefly. His eyes too conveyed a message.

But before he could say anything, Axel cut in. "Well if you want alone time with your best friend, Sora, I don't see any problems with me hanging with my little best buddy here."

Roxas and Sora both stared at Axel in awe. It was obvious Roxas desperately wanted to say something, so his twin said it for him.

"I'm your best buddy?" Sora asked.

Axel ruffled Sora's hair playfully. "Of course! At least I see you that way. You're awesome."

Roxas gulped, but quickly enveloped his juice box's straw with his mouth to hide the blush starting to form. His heart was picking up, but that was something he didn't have to hide unless Axel had super hearing. It was definitely possible. A guy of that caliber could do most things, so why not have an unnatural super power such as super hearing?

And there goes Roxas' imagination.

Sora smiled widely. "Wow, thanks Axel. You're mine too. Well, next to Namine of course."

"Great! So you wanna come over to my place? I have my car so I'll pick you up. I'm further from school than you and your brother are."

Sora nodded happily, and then shot his brother a furtive glance. "Thanks Axel. That's really _nice_ of you!"

Roxas was about to open his mouth to flirt back with Riku to anger Sora just as easily as he was him, but the bell rang. The twins stood up at the same time, staring one another down. They were angry, but not their usual heated tempers. Rather, it was a competitive passion to rile one another up the most.

Just as they turned to race one another out of the cafeteria, a hand slapped on both of their shoulders causing them to turn around in surprise. A small petite blonde girl had appeared before them as if sent from heaven. Neither of them had seen Namine much that week, so it was a nice relief to see her gentle smile.

"Can I come home with you two?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course!" they both replied. Both of their faces cracked into identical grins.

Namine was pleased to see her curse was now turning into a lovely little gift to the brothers.

♥

"Oh! _I'm_ flirtatious?!" Sora exclaimed. "Who was hittin' it up nice and easy with _my_ Riku?!"

"You were all over Axel too!" Roxas cried.

Namine came into the room with a surprised look. She grew worried that maybe her gift wasn't as pretty as it seemed at lunch. Looking back and forth between the twins only crushed her spirits even more as their voices rose in pitch.

"It was to show you that he really _does_ like you! Remember?! You were doing it too!" Sora shouted.

"_Exactly_!"

There was an awkward pause before Namine began to giggle. Sora and Roxas soon joined her, amazed and amused by their own stupidity. They wrapped their arms around one another as they fell to the floor; their sides itched from the pain their laughter caused them.

Taking a place in front of them, Namine smiled widely. "Well! I'm relieved to know that was easily avoided."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I was never mad at him. I know he was doing it to help me."

"Of course I was, Sora!" Roxas slapped his brother's back. "It's what we said we'd do."

Namine looked worried instantly. "Wait, did you both agree on something?"

"Yeah. Is that a problem?" Sora asked.

"Not exactly…but…" Namine trailed off, not looking at her friends.

"Namine…" Roxas sounded a bit annoyed. He hated when people never finished their sentences. "Would you mind repeating that in a louder voice?"

The blonde rubbed her arm nervously. She somehow became smaller in front of the boys' very eyes.

Sora reached out and gently touched her hand nervously attacking her arm. "Hey. It's okay. Tell us. We've heard worse these days."

Namine smiled gratefully up at him before lifting her head fully. She looked at Roxas quickly. Clearing her throat, she said, "Well…it's just that in order to switch back to your bodies, you can't agree to be selfless. It has to come suddenly and without the other knowing of it."

The twins' enthusiasm was barely affected. Namine was a bit taken aback.

"I figured that was the case when we didn't switch back at lunch," Roxas said with Sora nodding along beside him.

"Yeah, I mean if it was that easy, we could've done that earlier in the week."

"Er, no you couldn't," Namine said, a giggle escaping near the end of her statement. "If you two could hardly stay in the same room without starting _some_ sort of fight, then no, Sora, you_couldn't_ have done it earlier in the week. Heck, in the same lifetime."

"Yeah…I guess you're right about that." Sora laughed lightly.

"Well don't you worry, Nam," Roxas said. He reached his arm around Sora up and over to place on her small shoulder; his other hand landing simultaneously. "We'll find our own way. You started it and showed us a direction and we were able to come together. Without the whole Hayner incident yesterday…"

Roxas had to stop himself to calm his voice. It had started to waver as he brought up such a painful subject. Sora rubbed his back, looking at him worriedly. But the boy pressed on.

"Without that guy messing everything up, this probably would've taken an extra week or two. But Sora and I were meant to get past this and become twins again."

Sora laughed. "Well, we were always twins, just each other's evil twins."

Namine giggled into her hands. "Well I'm glad to hear that something so horrible brought you two together again. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you both able to sit close to one another and joke around so light heartedly. I thought it would never happen in my lifetime."

"We may have been intolerable," Roxas started, looping his arm around Sora's shoulder.

His twin shared the same smile as him. "But we weren't fixable."


	6. Final Friday

_hoshiko's notes_: So...here it is! This is the final chapter. I'm pretty proud with how it turned out and with how the series was too. I got a lot of positive feedback and enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope you did too. I apologize for slacking off near the end of the series.  
There _may_ be an epilogue that continues their story, but we'll see.

* * *

_Final Friday_

Friday at school seemed to move all too quickly. Roxas could barely find the time to talk to his brother and see what he was up to. Since that morning, Sora made sure to go out of his way to not talk to his twin. He would come up with pathetic excuses to not have too long a talk with Roxas. It wasn't long before he knew that nothing would get done today, so he'd just have to accept the fact that any of his questions about movie night tonight with Riku would go unanswered.

"You're going it alone?" Namine asked.

"Yeah," Roxas sighed. He slumped in his seat. "I have no idea what to do."

"You watch movies. What more could there be to that?" Namine looked around.

It was currently after school. Namine lived pretty far from school and was always picked up by her mom. Roxas agreed to stay back awhile and talk to her. He saw no reason to rush home since Riku was busy with volleyball activities; something the younger boy preferred to stay away from.

"I've never seen how my brother acts when it's just him and Riku. I did when we were young, but movie night is _their_ night together."

Then it hit Roxas.

"Oh man…"

"What?" Namine stopped looking around to look at the brunette boy beside her.

"That must be why Sora doesn't want to talk to me," Roxas mumbled. He looked down sadly. "It's his night with Riku. It's how it's always been. I normally hide up in my room all night on the computer or playing video games. I never went downstairs until they fell asleep or if Riku didn't spend the night. Shit…he must hate me."

"I'm sure that's not the case." Namine put her hand gently on Roxas' shoulder. "He knows it's not your fault."

"But it's not like I stopped Riku from coming over yesterday. Sora's good at not telling anyone when he's upset. He just smiles and brushes it off. He forgives so easily."

"Well Sora had his chance to say something about it yesterday," Namine said.

Roxas shook his head. "Sora's too nice for that. He would rather not say anything and find a way around the situation… This is why he can't _possibly_ be my twin."

"Why not?"

Roxas smiled sadly. "Because unlike me…Sora finds a solution to make things better. I sit on the same damn problem for years, not looking for an answer, and expect someone else to fix my shit. I'm such a moron."

Namine cringed. She hugged Roxas gently. "I don't think that's the case. You tried to make things better, didn't you? You would reach out to him, but it was Sora who pushed away. But neither was at fault. You both just didn't know. And you do find solutions. Aren't you the one who was trying to ask what to do today?"

Roxas smiled slightly. Lifting his arms lightly, he patted Namine on the head. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Nam."

"Of course. Now let's find a way to fix your current problem. What to do with your best friend."

"With you?" Roxas asked.

Namine giggled, her delicate hand hiding her pale lips. "No, silly. _You're_ best friend."

"Oh! Right! Riku!" Roxas knocked himself on the head and stuck his tongue out. "Silly me. Well, I've been okay talking to him and hanging out with him during the week, but there were other people around. Now it'll be just me and him. I don't know what to do about that. What if it gets awkward?"

"Don't put so much pressure on talking," Namine said calmly. She put her hands behind her back and smiled more. "You think that your brother is that talkative during a movie?"

Roxas shrugged. "We haven't been to a movie together since we were six years old. I don't know if he still does. He used to shout at the screen all the time."

"Well, if he still does and Riku asks why you're being quiet, tell him you're really into the movie."

Roxas looked around nervously. "Oh man, it's almost time for Riku to come. I'm getting worried."

Namine put her hand on Roxas' shoulder. "Just think about your brother and remember, you're doing this for him. Do your best and you'll have no regrets."

"I sure as hell hope you're right…"

"You kiss your mom with that mouth, Sora?"

Roxas stiffened instinctively. He wished that he only imagined Axel's voice behind him due from the fact that he missed the redhead so much. But his fears were being confirmed as he saw Namine's blue eyes travel up to a figure behind him. Turning around slowly, the boy had to gulp back the urge he felt to hug the senior. How he missed him so.

Automatically, Roxas retorted. "No, I kiss your mom with this mouth."

"Whoa!" Axel laughed. He slapped Roxas on the back causing the boy to blush brightly. Namine giggled quietly behind him. "That was nice, Sora. Did Roxas teach you how to make comebacks?"

"Er, yeah," Roxas lied. He had slipped and acted too close to himself.

Axel smiled widely. "It's good to hear that. I like it when your brother is happy. He's been a bit down these days for far too long."

"Yeah," Roxas mumbled. He could feel his face getting warmer. It was nice to know what Axel said about him when he wasn't there to hear it. "I'm glad too."

"Thanks for helping him." Axel put his hand on Roxas' shoulder. "It means a lot to me."

Roxas suddenly got an idea in his head. He smiled widely, just like he had practiced and had seen his brother do so many times before. "Of course, Axel! Anything for my brother's favorite guy!"

Axel's smiled faltered a bit and Namine suddenly grew silent behind the boy. "What do you mean, favorite boy?"

Roxas shrugged cutely, knowing that would be how Sora would act. He'd play dumb, but that was only to egg Axel on more. "I'm not sure. All Roxas does is talk about you. I thought he'd be shaken up over his break-up with Hayner, but he doesn't seem too upset at all. Not with you around, that is."

Axel then started laughing. Roxas was temporarily put off by the sudden humor in the situation that he didn't see.

"What's so funny?" Roxas asked, trying to keep his light heartedness the same as his twin.

"I just didn't know Roxas liked me that much," Axel laughed.

Roxas smiled even more. He glanced back at Namine before putting on his brother's smirk. He had seen it all too well in his lifetime to know it by heart.

"Well Roxas likes you a lot."

"He does?" Now Axel seemed a little less humored by the conversation.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. More than most guys, that is."

Axel looked down at his feet quickly before he looked back at Namine. Roxas looked behind him at the girl too. She smiled sweetly, but then pretended that someone far away had caught her eye.

"Pence! Hey! Wait up!" The blonde ran off with a short smile at Roxas.

Roxas then looked back at Axel to see the senior blushing slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…I just." The older teen started to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Um, well, does Roxas ever tell you anything important about me?"

"Important?" Roxas repeated.

"Yeah. I mean. Like just why I'm his favorite guy?" Axel couldn't bring himself to look the boy in the eye. It was a good thing too as now Roxas was starting to blush too.

"Well… I guess in order to answer that, I have to know just what you are to my brother." Roxas sounded far too smart to be Sora, but luckily Axel didn't catch on. "I mean, how do you like me brother?"

"Well, he's a great guy… but I'm surprised to hear that he likes me so much," Axel mumbled.

"Why's that?"

"Well, I thought he liked Riku."

There was a loud car honking from afar. Roxas would have jumped if he hadn't been in shock. How could Axel think that he liked Riku, his brother's best friend? The two hardly spoke.

"Why…do you…think that?" Roxas asked shakily.

"Well I didn't use to think so, but when we all ate together yesterday, I just noticed the way he kept watching Riku all the time. It looked as if he was getting jealous. It's got me worried."

Roxas started to think back to yesterday's lunch when something hit him.

"Why does it bother you so much that my brother was staring at another guy?" Roxas asked slyly.

Axel tensed and flushed even more. "Well it's just… I…"

"Axel?"

Said redhead spun around in surprise. There stood Roxas' body looking up at the senior.

"Hi Roxas!" Axel exclaimed a little too happily and loudly. "Are you ready to go?"

"Uh…yeah." Sora looked at Roxas, question floating in his eyes. Roxas turned that confusion into thinking that Sora was upset with him. He looked away from his brother quickly. The twin was confused as to why Roxas looked so guilty, but turned his attention to Axel in front of him. "We going?"

"Uh, yeah." Axel smiled back at Roxas. "See ya, Sora."

Roxas felt his heart drop when he suddenly realized something very crucial he had never thought of. If Axel did like him, he would tell him most likely when Sora still inhabited his body. He'd never get to hear his crush's confession.

♥

Axel's apartment was quaint. That was the only word that came to Sora's mind. He was never good explaining much of anything, especially not places. So to him, the cramped apartment with its boxes taking up the majority of the space was quaint.

"I love the decorating," Sora joked. Somehow, in the pit of his stomach, he just knew that his brother would have said that.

Axel laughed. "Thanks. I did it myself."

"Don't you have parents to clean up after you?" Sora raised an eyebrow when he glanced in the kitchen. Better not. If he needed food or a drink, he'd ask Axel. The redhead could go in for him.

"You know I don't live with them, Roxas," Axel replied.

Sora mentally kicked himself. "Right, sorry."

"It's cool. You want anything to drink?"

Score! Sora thought. I don't have to ask him. "Uh, sure. Soda's cool."

Axel continued to talk to Sora as he left the room. "Have a seat anywhere you want. I'll be right back."

Sora looked around. He wondered if some of the boxes were actually used as chairs or tables. There's no way Roxas would get along well with a guy this messy. Sure, his twin was a bit disorganized, but he always became irritated when one of the rooms back home was a disaster. This would've been labeled as pure chaos sending Roxas into a foul mood until he had gone through to clean it. Perhaps Sora should clean it. It would have seemed a lot like Roxas if he did.

Axel poked his head back out. He chuckled as he watched Sora look back and forth at two different boxes near him. "Oh come on! My place isn't _that_ bad!"

Sora turned around with a sly smile on his face. "Are you sure about that?"

Axel snorted. He handed Sora his soda as he walked further into the mess that was his home. The younger boy warily followed, watching his step. Now he was becoming a little like his neat freaky brother.

"Here. There's a couch under this blanket here." Axel shoved aside some of the other messy contents that lay across the cushions.

"Why is there a blanket on your couch?" Sora asked hiding back a smile. He wasn't sure it was working out too well.

"To protect it from getting dirty! Saves me on cleaning the damn thing." Axel flopped down, sighing loudly. He put his hands behind his head and crossed his legs.

Sora quietly sat down near him. For some reason, he couldn't look at Axel. He didn't know what to say or do. It's not that he was nervous; it's just that he was totally unprepared for the situation. He had been so angry that he'd be missing out on movie night that he forgot to ask Roxas what he did when alone with Axel. Correction, alone with Axel and having no homework between them.

Sora groaned out loud instead of mentally like he wanted to. Axel looked over with a confused expression.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Er, sorry. I'm just glad the week's over." It was partly true. Sora _was_ glad to see the week vanish from his life. "And it's nice being here with you."

Oh boy, Sora thought. Did that sound a little too weird?

Axel chuckled and looked away. "Thanks, but I'm not that great of a host. I didn't even clean up for you last night. I should have and I wanted to, but I got too tired."

Sora smirked at the redhead. "Really now? Doing what?"

"Your mom."

Sora didn't have to pretend to be like his brother at that point. He knew both of them would have socked Axel in the arm for his joke.

"Ow! Oh come on, that was a good joke!" Axel cried out, rubbing his abused arm.

Sora looked away. He forced his face to flush. "Stupid…"

Axel laughed more as he leaned closer. "Are you blushing, Roxie?"

"Ro-Roxie?! Hey, just where do you get off calling me that?!" Sora exclaimed. It wasn't hard to fake being insulted since he had seen Roxas' face scrunch up numerous times in disgust.

"I'm just playing around with you," Axel replied, still laughing. "And you avoided my question."

"It's none of your business," Sora snapped, looking away.

Axel poked Sora in the nose suddenly, surprising the younger boy. "Of course, you didn't have to say a thing. Your face told me."

Sora's face really did flush this time. He was awfully close to the redhead's face. He didn't expect things to get awkward for a little while longer. Not until his plan had been truly set in motion. Of course now, he had lost all confidence in himself at being able to fulfill his ideas.

"You're blushing even more," Axel said with a smirk.

Sora put his hand on the senior's face. Roughly pushing him back, he scowled, "Get out of my face…"

Axel laughed, his face still being crushed by Sora's hand. He decided to lick the boy's palm knowing very well that it would make the younger boy fall backwards squealing in disgust. Curses would fly from his mouth and glares would sail his way. It was one of the many reasons why he liked Roxas so much. He was so emotional that it bordered unbearable cuteness.

Hey, if he could see Roxas pay so much attention to him, then he'd lick his entire arm. Though that would merit a sock in the face and a guest-less apartment.

♥

Roxas tried his best to be cheerful and chatter away like Sora always did when alone with Riku. It proved to be not as challenging as he thought it would be. Without even realizing it, he had come to understand his brother so well and could act just like him without a second thought. Whether that was a scary thought or not, Roxas didn't care at the moment. If it made this day go by faster, then he'd even cuddle with Riku.

"So what movie is it today?" Riku asked. He had started pulling out movies from the container of DVD's.

Roxas made a loud, "Hm!" sound as he tapped his chin. He always hated it when Sora did it, but he could tell Riku liked it as a smile crossed his face. "I dunno! You pick!"

Riku breathed a laugh as he shook his head. 'You know whatever I pick you'll say you don't like it."

"So?" Roxas smiled widely. If this was Riku's idea of cute, he'd be better off hanging himself. Why he thought his brother's annoying actions of playing coy were adorable, he'd never know. But he had to keep it up. Just a little bit longer. His plan of action hadn't gone into full swing just yet.

"Arg! Just make up your mind, Sora!" Riku looked around angrily. Was it play or was he really getting annoyed? Maybe Roxas had overdone it.

"I'm sorry…," Roxas mumbled, looking down. "I'll take that one. _The Darkness_."

Riku looked back at his friend. "What?"

"What?" Roxas looked up.

"You said you'll take _The Darkness_. You know that's a scary movie, right?" Riku asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah? So?" Roxas started playing with his socks sadly.

"Sora, everyone and their mother knows that you can't watch scary movies," Riku said, standing up.

Roxas shrugged. "I'll take my chances…"

As soon as the DVD was in the DVD player, Riku sat next to Roxas. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hey, what gives? Why're you acting this way all of a sudden?"

"Because you're annoyed with me?" Roxas replied.

Riku looked at Roxas incredulously. "You seriously think I'm annoyed with you?"

Roxas shrugged once again. He heard Riku sigh loudly behind him. "Come on Sora. I thought you knew me better than that."

"I do, but why did you snap at me?" Roxas asked turning back to Riku.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You consider that snapping at you now? Wow, when did you get so sensitive? You know I always do that, Sora."

Okay, so maybe Roxas hadn't gotten down the part of his brother as well as he thought he had. Biting his lip, he tried to laugh, but it came out pretty awkward.

"What's up with you lately, Sora?" Riku asked. "You've been acting weird all week."

"Just one of those weeks, I guess," Roxas replied.

"Well the other day was the weirdest…," Riku mumbled.

"How so?"

Riku looked towards the television with a nonchalant expression to his face. "You were flirting with a guy."

Roxas suddenly had tunnel vision. He almost thought he had fainted. Had he somehow flirted with Axel? And after all the work he went into making sure he paid all his attention only to Riku.

"I…did…?" Roxas asked shakily.

Riku nodded. "Yeah…"

"Oh…" Roxas looked at the floor. If before had been awkward, then he wasn't exactly sure what to label the situation now. There was definitely an air of suspense floating between them as well as a sense of painful guilt. To Roxas, it was as if he had just insulted someone when they didn't deserve it.

Things were not going well.

♥

"Say please!" Axel laughed.

"Just give it to me, Axel!" Sora exclaimed. He reached higher and higher for his can of soda, but he was still out of reach from the redhead's hands.

"Haha, you're too short! You'll never get it back until you say please."

"You're going to get a hurt ball sack if you don't give me that right now!" Sora yelled at the top of his lungs as he stretched up to his fullest for the can.

"Oh my! Is that because you'll be sucking on them?"

Both boys stopped instantly what they were doing. Sora moved back hastily as Axel tried to cover his mistake with a laugh. The younger boy stared at his older friend in shock. Had he _really_ said that?

"Man, you really can't take jokes today, can you?" Axel asked, coughing away his blush.

"Well…that was a bit too far…," Sora mumbled.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Roxie."

Sora glared at Axel. In one swift movement, he slammed his foot right into Axel's shin. The boy yelped out in surprise more than pain as he keeled over. The soda fell from his hand and sprayed all over Sora.

"And that!" Axel laughed loudly, doubling over. "Is what I call an epic fail!"

Sora shook his wet hair out of his eyes as he huffed down at Axel. "And this is what I'm about to call revenge."

Quickly, Sora nabbed Axel's unopened can of soda. He then shook it as hard as he could, turned it to the senior, and opened it. Now was a good time to thank that blanket on Axel's couch.

"Shit! What the hell?! Roxas!" Axel tried to move out of the line of fire, but it was no use. He was soaked in sticky cola.

"Haha! You look worse than I do!" Sora laughed.

Axel grabbed Sora's wrist and swung the smaller boy around until he slammed into the couch. The senior then sat on him with his arms crossed.

"Ow! Oh God! Axel! It hurts! Why are you so heavy?! You're a stick! Get off!" Sora cried in pain. He kicked his feet and struggled to ride himself of Axel, but to no avail.

"Haha! Payback's a bitch you ass!"

"Ass?! Who's the ass?! I'm looking right at yours!" Sora smacked Axel's ass as if to emphasize his statement.

"Oh my! Roxas! Do it harder!" Axel laughed loudly.

Sora did as he was told causing Axel to laugh even more. He then started practically beating the ever-loving shit out of the older boy's behind.

This continued for a little while until all was settled. The boys sat facing one another on the couch while catching their breath from laughing so hard. Their sides and cheeks were sore. Eventually it was silent, but not of the awkward kind. Things were going awfully smoothly.

"You're so adorable, Roxas," Axel said suddenly. Sora stiffened instantly. "You have so much of a personality, I love it."

"What?" Sora asked, cracking a smile much to his cheek's displeasure.

"Compared to me, I'm just an emotionless shell," Axel said.

"Uh excuse me? How is that? I'm always such a stick in the mud and here you are always smiling and laughing."

Axel shook his head. "Sometimes I pretend… In fact, a lot of times I pretend."

Sora looked a bit put off by this. "Do you when you're with me?"

"Huh? Oh! No! Not when I'm with you!" Axel quickly shook his head. "I just meant when… well… mainly when you're not with me, I feel dead."

Sora blushed without even forcing it. That was a pretty sweet thing to say even if he had no interest in the senior. He wished Riku would say something like that, but knew it wasn't his style.

"Thanks, Axel… I know that…if it hadn't been for you this past week, I would've gone insane," Sora said clumsily. He was so horrible at expressing his feelings, but it was ten times worse when he guessed on someone else's feelings. "I'd have gone insane _long_ ago. You mean a lot to me."

"I…do?"

Their eyes met for a second and Sora knew. His plan had to start now or else he'd never get another chance. He'd do this for his brother. Anything to make him happy.

♥

"What guy…did you see me flirting with…?" Roxas asked. He mulled over every guy that he had been forced to talk to. He hoped it wasn't Axel. He had made a conscience effort to not look at the redhead for too long, but it seemed he might have slipped.

Riku was silent for a moment before replying. "Me."

The DVD menu replayed once more as there was, yet again, an awkward pause between the two. Roxas wasn't sure what to say. He was glad to know that his actions paid off, but he wasn't sure how to proceed from there. Maybe now was the time he started his good deed of the year.

"Does…that bother you…?" Roxas asked. "I mean… I uh…"

"No…it just…confuses me," Riku replied.

"Why?" Roxas started fiddling with his hands while looking at the menu. Both he and Riku still had their eyes glued to the screen. Neither really noticed the gory images of creepy bug-like creatures attacking the actors and pulling their hearts out.

"I thought…you liked Kairi, not me… No wait, that sounded conceded. You don't like me." Riku began to laugh nervously as he tore his eyes away from the television. "Lemme rephrase that."

"How do you know I don't like you?" Roxas asked, forcing the words to form in his mouth. He wasn't going to lose his courage now.

"Because you're straight! You've always been!" Riku laughed louder. Now it was apparent he was nervous.

Roxas smiled to himself. "Maybe I just acted really well at being straight…"

Riku stopped laughing and looked over at Roxas. "How long?"

Honestly, if Roxas had to guess just when his brother started liking Riku, he picked seventh grade. That was when he and Riku became the best of friends. Sora had never really said just when he switched sides.

"Long enough," Roxas mumbled.

"How long, Sora?" Riku moved a bit closer and sounded a lot sterner. "Tell me."

"What does it matter? You don't like me," Roxas said angrily as he moved away. Just say it! Roxas thought. He made sure his movements were slow, though, just in case Riku reached out to grab him.

"How do you know I don't like you?"

Roxas had to smirk to himself hearing his own words turned back on him. Now he knew. The only problem was, now what?

♥

"Yeah…," Sora said shakily. He gulped back his fears of messing up. He only thought of his brother, but that made things worse as he was scared this wasn't how it would go. Desperately, the teen wanted to think of how he'd confess to Riku, but that situation would have been ten times as emotional. "I like you…a lot…"

Axel's jaw clenched. "But…you just broke up with your boyfriend…"

Sora shook his head. "I liked you before that. Way before that."

Of course Sora didn't know exactly when his brother had fallen so hard for Axel, but he guessed it was soon after they met; hell Roxas probably liked him the second he met him. Without even having any romantic feelings for the older teen, even Sora had an instant attraction to the redhead.

"You did…?" Axel asked, his hand moving out to grab Sora's arm. It was silent for a few seconds as they looked at one another. "I thought you'd never catch on…"

"Catch…on?" Sora asked, his heart in his ears.

Slowly, Axel started moving into Sora's personal space. "Yeah…that I like you too."

And then they were interrupted by a very loud buzzing in Sora's pants. The younger teen flew apart to opposite end of the couch, his hand clutching his pocket. Axel was just as surprised, but hadn't budged an inch. He wanted to ignore it.

"Oh! Sorry! That's my brother!" Sora laughed loudly as he held up the vibrating phone to show Axel. "I better answer it! You never know if something bad happened!"

Sora jumped up without waiting for a word from Axel. He rushed to the bathroom and closed the door. Something in his gut told him something _had_ gone wrong between Roxas and Riku.

"Roxas?!" Sora hissed. "What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"Something," Roxas said. It was obvious that he was smiling on the other end. He sounded far too cherry to have a frown.

"Like what?!" Sora started to sweat in anticipation. He didn't know until just then that the moment he and Axel had just shared had created quite a lot of perspiration on his skin from his nervousness.

"You have a date tomorrow with Riku," Roxas said proudly. "I'm so excited for you."

Sora almost dropped the phone. Instead, his knees gave out and his butt collided with the tiled floor below him. Without realizing what he grasped, Sora clung to the side of Axel's bathtub for dear life.

"What?" the boy breathed weakly. "He…he asked me out?"

"Sure did! He'll pick you up tomorrow at five for a dinner and movie," Roxas explained. "So what movie did you want to see?"

"Roxas…you…I can't believe you…" Sora felt himself welling up with such love and admiration for his twin brother that it spilled out from his eyes onto his cheeks. "That's the nicest thing you've ever done for me…"

"Well…" Roxas rubbed his arm as he looked to the side. He too was in the bathroom back home. "I mean…Riku's always been important to you. I wanted to make you happy… I want you to be with the one you love… You deserve that much."

"You do too," Sora sniffled, wiping his tears. "That's why I told Axel you like him."

"You what?!" Roxas exclaimed. He had been sitting on the toilet, but when he heard the new news he jumped up in surprise.

"He likes you too," Sora said simply.

There was another awkward silence between them. Roxas' mouth was gaping open and Sora was trying to stop his tears. He regained feeling in his legs so he could stand up. Taking a quick look in the mirror made him curse himself for crying. Now he had a red face and his eyes were a bit puffy.

"Sora…that's…I…" Roxas bit his lip as he tried to sort out his thoughts. Only two words came to him. "Thank you…"

"Of course, Roxas. I love you."

Roxas smiled brightly into the phone. "I love you too."

A warm golden glow covered Sora's body and a blue one covered Roxas body. Over the phone, the colors switched bodies. The boys' heads whirled as they felt their feet leave the ground and slam back down as quickly as they left. The glow melted away into their bodies.

Looking around, both knew that they had finally broken the curse. Roxas took a good long look at the bathroom he now stood in. He cringed slightly at seeing it be such a mess with bottles of conditioner, shampoo, shaving cream, and soap tumbling out of the bathtub. Sora was glad to see his own bathroom knowing that everything was right as rain again.

"Roxas?" the brunette boy asked tentatively. "Are we…really back in our bodies?"

"Yeah!" Roxas said happily. He found himself laughing, even as he saw his red face in the mirror. "Were you crying?!"

"Well yeah!" Sora laughed. The two stood in different bathrooms laughing their heads off at their own joke. "It was really nice and such a relief!"

"Well go out there and tell him how you feel!" Roxas said.

'You didn't tell him?" Sora asked, alarmed.

"No, I did, but _you_ need to tell him. And kiss him."

Sora's eyes bugged out at the thought. "What?!"

"Oh come on! Like you don't want to!"

"Well I just…"

Roxas jumped as he heard a knocking on the door.

"Roxas? Is everything okay in there?" Axel asked through the door. "Is your brother okay?"

"Oh! Yeah! I'll be right there." Roxas waited for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Sora. "Look, I'll see you later tonight. Enjoy the movie and your new boyfriend."

Sora blushed deeply. "Th-thanks… You too, Rox."

"Love you," Roxas said warmly, his smile stretching across his face more.

"You too," Sora replied.

Both left the bathroom awfully fast to the older boys in the living room. Roxas was first to see Axel.

"Everything okay?" Axel asked, looking over at the blonde.

Roxas had to push aside the temporary shock at seeing his friend's apartment in such disarray. Instead, he smiled and took a spot next to the redhead.

"Yeah. Sora was telling me Riku asked him out."

"No shit!" Axel laughed. "That's great for them! Riku had told me awhile ago that he was head over heels for that boy. I'm glad he got his wish."

"Wait." Roxas eyes grew. "He _told_ you?! When?!"

"Sometime earlier this month or so. I can't remember," Axel replied.

Figures, Roxas thought. He smiled at Axel knowing that he was pretty much his now. Maybe it was a good time to do what he had told Sora; tell the boy he liked his feelings.

"Uh…Axel…?" Roxas mumbled, his stomach growing uneasy.

"Yeah?"

"I like you…"

Axel smirked. "I know. You just told me."

Roxas bit his lip. "Do you…like me?"

"Very much so," Axel replied, leaning over towards the younger teen.

But Roxas was faster. He flopped his body on Axel and wrapped his arms around his neck. A surprised sound escaped Axel's mouth, but was muffled by Roxas' lips as they pressed on his own. The two melted into one another's touch. The older teen pulled the blonde closer, practically putting him in his lap as he kissed him deeply, their tongues intertwining.

A similar situation was playing out in Sora's head as he imagined doing the same back to Riku. However, he took his sweet ass time walking back into the living room. When he entered, the silver haired boy wasn't in sight. A popping noise came from the kitchen causing Sora to spin on his heel and head right for the room.

"Hey there!" Riku said cheerily, looking over from the counter. "You want some popcorn?"

Sora nodded, moving over faster to Riku. "Riku, I…I'm not sure what I just said or what you just said a second ago. I'm still in shock… But did you say you like me?"

"Uh, no," Riku replied. "Not really."

"Oh…" Sora quickly thought of reasons why his brother had lied to him. Wouldn't the curse still be on them if Roxas hadn't really done his selfless deed?

"I said I love you."

Sora almost fainted at the words he had longed to hear for so long. He looked at Riku with wobbly legs. Not knowing what to say was an understatement. His brain had overheated making his heart take over.

"I…I've wanted… I've always wanted you to say that…," Sora mumbled. "I pushed the feelings so far into my heart because…I was terrified if I told you…you'd hate me…and never want to see me… I could live knowing you knew I liked you and not returning the feelings, but not if you hated me. I made myself get by thinking I'd never tell you…"

Riku chuckled as he moved swiftly to Sora. "You shouldn't have done that, Sora. You know me better than anyone. Have I ever left anyone because I hated them?"

"Yes," Sora said quickly.

"When?"

"My freshman year, your sophomore year. We were friends with that boy that said they liked me. I didn't know what to do and he wanted me to do all those things you didn't agree with."

"Well yeah, because he was bad for you! Even if you didn't like him I was still pretty protective of you. I didn't want you ending up in jail all because of this kid," Riku said hotly.

"But you still left him."

"Well he pissed me off. If you had told me your feelings, I wouldn't have been pissed," Riku replied. "I love you way too much."

Sora became weak again, but Riku caught him under the arms. Without any effort, the older boy picked up his friend and set him on the counter. Seeing where Riku's hands were caused them both to flush furiously and look away. But something pulled their eyes back to one another.

"Riku…," Sora whispered, finding his instincts to make his eyes droop and his face lean towards the boy. "I love you…"

They kissed without any hesitation after that. Sora was grateful to be sitting as he felt all of his body but his mouth go numb. Everything pulsed with warmth as he felt Riku's tongue slip into his mouth and control the situation. The older teen pressed his body up against his younger friend, not caring where his hands went this time. Riku had heard what he too had wanted to hear for so long so now there was no holding back.

Both brothers experienced a whole new level of life neither knew existed. Axel had stripped Roxas of his shirt and laid on him, caressing his skin and kissing him hastily. Riku had started to dry hump Sora while the microwave screeched that the popcorn was done. The twins only moaned and gasped in pleasure seeing that one selfless act could lead to a world of happiness.

♥

Later that evening, Sora's door creaked open. The boy wasn't sleeping as he too, wanted to stay up for his brother. The brunette scooted aside in his bed as Roxas climbed in. They faced one another and snuggled up close, just like when they were kids. Years ago their mother rarely found the two in their own beds when she went to wake them up. Now a similar scene took place.

They smiled at each other, not sure what to say first. Both wanted to tell in eager whispers about their time with their boyfriends and what they had set up for tomorrow on their dates.

"Thank you," was all they said. It was all they could say. Nothing else was needed as they slipped into sleep together, holding on to on another.

Tomorrow would bring about a glorious day, but it was next week they waited for impatiently. Things were going to be so different. Namine would become the most well endowed girl on campus as she had two personal bodyguards and was to be lavished in gifts of gratitude. Roxas wanted to spend less time with his "friends" and more time with Axel's. They seemed like a better group of people. Sora no longer wanted to jump around from place to place, but stay with only Riku's group he tended to lounge about with.

The brothers knew that a lot of complications would come their way, but neither cared. Even without their boyfriends, they had each other. It was enough to get them through anything from here on out.

* * *

Thanks again! See you all around, hopefully. 


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